Siddhi Vinayak Logistics Ltd (SVLL), a player in the trucking and logistics space, is venturing into ultra luxury intra-city bus service in India to cater to the requirement of corporate executives on the move. Though India has several premier bus operators and some State government undertakings are running luxury Volvo bus services, SVLL’s proposed bus service with a fleet of 120 Scania buses will create a new segment, company officials said.
The company will start with western India. Swedish auto maker Scania, which is making an aggressive bid to enter the Indian market, will supply 120 buses in one year through a special arrangement. The buses will be designed by Dilip Chhabria and the service to be named SVLL Connect will commence operation from November.
“With a fleet of 5975 trucks, we are a large truck operator. Now we are entering into the premium bus segment as part of our business expansion strategy. We have received encouraging support from our bankers to start this service and we will scale up pan India gradually,” Deepak Kumar Baid, director, SVLL told The Hindu .
The interiors will have design and comforts of an aircraft and service will be at par with full service airlines, he added .
The buses will have a restroom, conference room with Wi-Fi connection and projectors for corporate to have meetings while commuting.
There will also be an in-house crew who will be servicing meals and beverages onboard the buses. The service will have facility for pick-up and drop for passengers for a fee, Mr Baid added.
The bus service will connect Mumbai with Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad and Bangalore to name some destinations. The company will charge substantially high fares for providing the exclusive service.
