DTN News: Ashok Leyland In Initial Pact With Paramount Group

DTN News: Ashok Leyland In Initial Pact With Paramount Group *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) NEW DELHI, India - February 16, 2010: Ashok Leyland Ltd., India's second-largest truck maker by sales, Monday said it has signed an initial pact with South Africa's Paramount Group to make mine protected vehicles in India and will invest 500 million rupees ($10 million) over the next 12 months in the project. "All the financial investment in manufacturing will be done by Ashok Leyland. Paramount will bring in the technical know-how," Chief Operating Officer, Vinod Dasari, told reporters on the sidelines of DefExpo 2010 in New Delhi. The investment will be made in an existing facility, which Mr. Dasari didn't identify. The mine protected vehicles will be based on Ashok Leyland's stallion platform, the company said. Mr. Dasari also said the company has received a query for information from the government of India on all-terrain multi-axle vehicles. "We will respond to an initial request for information from the government. They are yet to specify the order size," he added. Ashok Leyland, the Chennai-based flagship of the Hinduja group conglomerate, expects to raise vehicle prices by 10%-15% in April. "We will be incurring an expense on upgrading our vehicles to meet the new emission norms and (a part of) that we will pass on to the consumers," Mr. Dasari said. He also said the company expects to end the current fiscal year through March 31 with sales of 66,000 units, compared with 54,000 units last year. Truck and bus sales have been rising since last June, helped by the federal government's stimulus schemes, lower borrowing costs and a fall in diesel prices.