Mumbai: Tata Motors Ltd launched and showcased a range of buses with alternative powertrain at its facility in Pune.

The Mumbai-based firm launched Starbus brand of buses in electric and hybrid versions.

It also displayed a range of smart buses for clean and green cities with an eye on the upcoming smart cities. It also displayed a bus based on fuel cell technology and liquefied natural gas.

With early investments in new technologies, Tata Motors is geared up to further strengthen it’s market leadership, said Ravindra Pisharody, executive director, commercial vehicle business at the firm.

“With our new range of Future ready buses, we will continue to play an active role in mass public transportation, with a commitment towards striking the right balance between sustainable growth and profitability," he said.

Tata Motors will work closely with government and regulatory authorities to intensify its efforts at tackling pollution, focusing on building alternative transport fuels and infrastructure, for smart cities of tomorrow, he added.

Tata Motors currently designs, develops and manufacturers its buses in Pune, Dharwad, Pantnagar and Lucknow.

Besides its partnership with ACGL of Goa for bus bodies, it also has a joint venture with Marcopolo S.A. of Brazil, one of the largest bus body manufacturers in the world, for fully-built bus (FBV) solutions.

Tata Motors is the second firm to launch electric buses.

In October 2016, Ashok Leyland Ltd unveiled its Circuit series electric bus—the country’s first such indigenously made vehicle.

Launch of buses with eco-friendly technologies are prompted by government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, which gives subsidies to such initiatives.

Launched in April 2014, FAME is part of the government’s ambitious National Electric Mobility Mission Plan, which intends to put seven million electric and hybrid vehicles on road by 2020.

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