SAYONI BHADURI – Mumbai
Paracoat Products (PCP) has tied up with Thailand based Vantec World Transport to design motor home cum office, which is popularly known as caravans. Model known as the PCP Terra and its kit is manufactured in Thailand and will be assembled in Manesar, Haryana. The assembly will be done on Mahindra Genio which is small pick-up model car. “In the next stage we will look at assembling the same unit on a Tata Xenon,” said Rajesh Poddar, director, Business Development, Paracoat Products. He added that they will be looking at a delivery time of four weeks. The entire motor home/ caravan will be priced at Rs 35-37 lakh and will include the price of the vehicle as well. “We have seen motor homes and caravans across the world. Till five-six year ago, Indian roads were not in the condition where such cars could be introduced. But now with the Expressways and better connectivity it is definitely possible,” said Poddar. The vehicle has been displayed at a couple of automobile shows and the response has been great. The company will be introducing two three new models every year.
Within the tourism sector Poddar informed that PCP is targetting car rental companies and they will hold a special showcase for them. The launch the first model is planned by end July – early August of this year. “We have also approached Delhi offices of tourism departments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and have received positive responses from them as well. We also plan to participate in the Great Domestic Tourism Bazaar and tourism and film exhibition to look at tourism business opportunities,” he added.
The challenge however is the lack of caravan parks, there aren’t any available yet. “We are looking at a project of our own in Neemrana. We have created a blueprint based on the directives given by the ministry of Tourism,” informed Poddar. As an additional revenue generating model the park will also function as a club providing leisure facilities to locals. The park will have 10-15 rooms which can be leased out to local hotels as well. “We are currently preparing budgets and incentives, we plan to have the park operational by October 2013,” he said.
