The SignalTransport, Logistics and Trade · Week 38, 2026 · 15 September 2026

Switch Mobility delivered 1,530 electric buses in FY2026 and reached net profitability

Five reads on how India moves goods and people this week.

The Award ◆

The Strategist · The Operator · Profit and Planet

Electric bus body shells in line on an assembly floor, no people present — Electric bus body shells on an assembly line. Illustrative.

Switch Mobility delivered 1,530 electric buses in FY2026 and reached net profitability

Compared with its base of about 450, Switch Mobility India, the electric vehicle arm of Ashok Leyland, achieved a 238 per cent increase and delivered 1,530 electric buses in FY2025-26. The company also delivered 1,600 electric light commercial vehicles, representing a 56 per cent rise and thus taking the lead in the two to four tonne electric LCV segment.

In India electric bus companies have generally increased their output at prices which do not cover the cost of the asset and thus have carried the cost of the asset. It is uncommon for them to achieve profitability in a year when output triples, and it is the parent company's own audited statement and not a market estimate that shows this.

By its side is OHM Global Mobility, which offers mobility as a service by operating more than 1,400 electric buses. It is the same group with two different models: one deals in vehicles and the other in operated kilometres, and the group has decided not to pick between them.

The parent company is not reducing its funding of the venture. Ashok Leyland has achieved domestic sales of 128,033 units for medium and heavy commercial vehicles, 74,322 units for light commercial vehicles, and the highest level of exports ever recorded, which is 18,082 units, representing an 18.5 per cent increase and involving four new countries. Total commercial vehicle sales, when exports are included, amount to 220,437 as compared with 195,097, a rise of thirteen per cent. That calculation is ours. There is a memorandum of understanding with a state-owned manufacturer in Indonesia relating to the joint development of electric buses. It contains no figure relating to the number of units, and no such figure should be inferred.

Who should act

As to who should act, fleet operators and state transport companies should do so when dealing with gross cost contracts, since a profitable supplier acts in a different way from one that is buying market share. Furthermore, component suppliers: those manufacturers who have stopped subsidising volume will push cost down the chain next.

Next step

When you put in a bid for electric buses over the next two quarters, you must ask bidders to separate out the price of the vehicle from the price of maintenance, since this manufacturer currently does so. A single rate on a per kilometre basis masks which of the two parts is being subsidised.

Source and reference: Ashok Leyland, Annual Report FY2025-26.

The Shift

The Growth Driver · The Strategist · The Multinational Mandate

Vehicles staged on a port apron beside the stern ramp of a car carrier, no people present — Vehicles staged on a port apron beside a carrier's stern ramp. Illustrative.

Ashok Leyland exported 18,082 commercial vehicles, a rise of 18.5 per cent

The product line with the smallest range is the one that is growing most rapidly. In fiscal year 2025-26 Ashok Leyland exported 18,082 commercial vehicles, as compared with 15,255, which represents an increase of 18.5 per cent and is a record for the company, with sales now extending to four new countries; its stated medium-term target is 25,000 units.

If you look at the domestic situation described in the same report and take into account the changes in numbers, medium and heavy commercial vehicles rose by 11.5 per cent, yet after removing the figures for defence and electric vehicles the number of buses decreased by 1.9 per cent, dropping from 21,249 to 20,840. Light commercial vehicles increased by 14.3 per cent, reaching a record total of 74,322. Thus exports grew at a faster rate than all the domestic categories except that of light commercial vehicles.

The identical pattern is seen in the case of the two-wheeler producers. Bajaj Auto exported 2,250,183 units, an increase of 20.8 per cent, with a value of ₹20,416 crore. TVS exported 1.426 million two-wheelers and 158,000 three-wheelers. Hyundai Motor India's share of export revenue climbed to 25.56 per cent from 21.96. Mahindra's automotive exports rose by 18.2 per cent to 41,030, and the company obtained its largest ever export order, which was 35,000 Scorpio Pikups sold to a state-owned enterprise in Indonesia.

Five manufacturers, five disclosures prepared on their own account, all giving the same direction. The rise this year in vehicle manufacturing in India has been largely due to activity outside the country, and as a result the demand for port, forwarding and marine insurance has followed that trend rather than being linked to domestic production volumes. When assessing the size of the domestic market on the basis of manufacturer growth rates, a significant adjustment is needed. A company that is showing double-digit growth could in fact have a flat domestic market and be experiencing an increase in its exports.

Who should act

The parties who should take action include roll on roll off operators, port terminal operators, freight forwarders and marine cargo underwriters, as well as component suppliers, since the export specification and homologation requirements differ from the domestic ones and the volume is increasing in that direction.

Next step

Base your forecast of automotive demand on export volumes not on the overall figure of manufacturer growth. For each customer find out what proportion of its FY2027 plan is intended to leave the country, since that proportion will determine whether they need your warehouse or your berth.

Source and reference: Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra and Mahindra, Annual Reports FY2025-26.

The Window

The Operator · The Growth Driver · Bridging the Deficit

Geotechnical drilling rig with capped core samples on reclaimed coastal ground, no people present — A geotechnical drilling rig with capped core samples on reclaimed coastal land. Illustrative.

Kamarajar Port is drilling for four new facilities at once, closing 16 September

Four facilities and one borehole site. In order to set up a second container terminal, bulk terminals, a multi-cargo terminal and a general cargo berth, the Kamarajar Port has commissioned a geotechnical investigation. One instruction, four facilities, closing at 3:00 pm on 16 September 2026.

The very first physical indication that a port plans to build is ground investigation. This takes place before design, before approval, before financing and before any construction packages have been put together, usually by two years or more, and a port will not pay for boreholes in a facility which it has already decided against. Because the scope of the investigation consists of expenses incurred before anyone is required to make a public commitment, it is a more reliable sign of intention than any announcement.

The breadth of this scope is rather wide. If a port extends its facilities to include one berth, then an investigation is commissioned for that particular berth. When a port commissions an investigation covering a container terminal, bulk terminals, a multi-cargo terminal and a general cargo berth all in a single instruction, it is not merely expanding; it is instead restructuring its cargo mix and has chosen to carry out this change as a single programme rather than in stages.

Marine and civil contractors have the opportunity right away through the investigation itself, which closes tomorrow. With regard to the calendar, the construction work on these four sites will start in 2028, that is the time when the market for dredging, piling and quay walls at this port will appear. Shippers also have a second opportunity. When a port changes its cargo mix during a rebuild, it will then become competitive in different commodities, and the time for renegotiating is before the terminals are built and not after.

Who should act

As to who should act, geotechnical investigation companies this week. Marine contractors, dredgers, piling specialists and quay wall designers in relation to the year 2028. And the shippers who have volume passing through this port, in relation to the renewal of their contracts.

Next step

Evaluate the investigation in relation to four facilities rather than just one, since the number of boreholes and the cost of mobilisation are determined by the number of sites involved. Look for the Ministry of Shipping onetenders.gov.in under Tenders by Organisation and check the closing date before proceeding.

Dates to mark

Closes 16 September 2026 at 3:00 pm.

Source and reference: Central Public Procurement Portal, Advanced Tender Search, Ministry of Shipping, verified 14 September 2026. · etenders.gov.in · Ministry of Shipping

Clean Stack Forum India, Transport and Logistics, 17 February 2027, Nagpur. Register interest.

The Number

The Operator · The Strategist · Logistical Leap

Reach stacker lifting a container over a rail-served stacking yard, no people present — Container handling at a rail-served terminal. Illustrative.

91.16 per cent of JNPT's traffic consists of containers and only 0.01 per cent does so at the Mumbai Port

91.16 per cent of the traffic at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in the 2024-25 period was in the form of containers: of the total of 92,115 mentioned in the published series, 83,968 were cargo and the series gives no figure for any unit. The series contains no data at all regarding coal, iron ore, fertilisers and foodgrain.

At a distance of about twenty kilometres, the number of containers handled by the Mumbai Port fell from 157 to 6 during that time, which has now reduced the proportion of containers in its traffic to 0.01 per cent and increased that of petroleum products to 57.44 per cent.

In the same harbour system two ports have divided the work so thoroughly that they no longer compete with each other. This is an uncommon arrangement. The normal view of Indian port capacity is that neighbouring ports compete for the same cargo and that adding a quay to one of them attracts business away from the other. In this case that does not happen, and so a shipper deciding between the two ports is in effect making no choice.

The general category puts the same argument across in a different way. Deendayal's other cargo share rose from 28.36 per cent to 35.39 and its petroleum volume did not change. At Visakhapatnam the proportion of petroleum increased by 7.52 percentage points and that of iron ore decreased by 5.45. The tonnages are the ones given in the publication and the series gives no unit. The shares and the comparisons are ours, and since shares do not depend on the unit, that is the reason why we publish them instead of the absolute volumes.

Who should act

As to who should take action, anyone who is preparing a west coast routing strategy and anyone who is modelling port capacity on the basis that neighbouring ports can take each other's place should note that on this evidence they cannot.

Next step

Compare the logic you use to select a port with the type of cargo rather than with the distance. In the case where the cargo you are transporting is not something that a port specialises in, you are paying for a service which it has stopped optimising.

Source and reference: Commodity-wise traffic series for Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Mumbai Port, data.gov.in, 2024-25.

The Pattern

The Strategist · The Operator · Logistical Leap

Marine loading arms along a liquid bulk jetty, no people present — Liquid bulk manifold on a port jetty. Illustrative.

Visakhapatnam, Deendayal and Haldia all grew on the cargo they are not known for

7.52, 7.03 and 2.53 percentage points; there are three ports and three shifts in the share of cargo, in each case the cargo which has moved is not the one for which the port is known.

Visakhapatnam is a port for iron ore; in 2024-25 its iron ore volume declined by 26 per cent and its share dropped by 5.45 points, falling from 19.82 to 14.37, while its petroleum share rose by 7.52 points, increasing from 20.50 to 28.02, which was the largest single change of any of the eight ports in the group. Total traffic rose by 1.9 per cent, the increase being due to petroleum.

Deendayal is a petroleum port and the volume of petroleum remained practically the same even though total traffic increased by 13.4 per cent; therefore the percentage of petroleum declined by 5.34 points just because the denominator had increased. The category which increased was other cargo, rising from 28.36 to 35.39 per cent of the total mix.

Kolkata and Haldia experienced a decrease of 3.8 per cent, which was the only decline among the group, and during that time they gained 2.53 points of container share while almost losing all of their iron ore. There are three ports, three identities, and three published records, and in each instance the commodity mentioned in the headline is not the one responsible for the change. A capacity plan based on a port's historical cargo profile is in effect planning for the wrong berth. The volumes are precisely as published and all the shares and all the percentage point changes are the result of our arithmetic.

Who should act

The people who should take action are those port planners and terminal investors who decide on the amount of equipment and the capacity of the berth, along with the suppliers of handling equipment who sell to them. If a port purchases grabs during a phase of liquid growth, then it has bought the wrong type of equipment.

Next step

It is better to use the commodity share from the past two years rather than that from the last ten years since the mix is changing faster than the reputation.

Source and reference: Principal commodity-wise traffic series for Visakhapatnam, Deendayal and SMP Kolkata:Haldia, data.gov.in, 2024-25.

Next Monday, five moreThe Signal lands every Monday morning with five reads for Transport, Logistics and Trade, each one traced to the record it came from.

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The Signal is an independent weekly briefing by TNF India. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government body or portal. We write our reads using public records, restating them in our own words alongside our own analysis. This briefing provides general information only and does not constitute bid, procurement, legal, financial or investment advice.

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The Shift

The Growth Driver · The Strategist · The Multinational Mandate

Ashok Leyland exported 18,082 commercial vehicles, a rise of 18.5 per cent

Who should act

Next step

Source and reference: Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra and Mahindra, Annual Reports FY2025-26.