Prawaas 3.0 – India’s largest Public Transport Conference and Exhibition Flagged off in Hyderabad

 Hyderabad:  Bus & Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI) along with Andhra Pradesh & Telangana State Bus Operators Association inaugurated the 3rd edition of India’s flagship conclave and exhibition for public transport, Prawaas3.0. The three-day event will bring together leading bus & car operators from across India in eight important segments viz: Intercity, Intracity, School Bus, Employee Transport, Tour Operators, Tourists Cabs, Maxi Cabs and PPP-SPVs.

The central theme of the event – “Towards Safe, Smart, Sustainable Passenger Mobility” echoes ethos of the governing organization, BOCI. The event is supported of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Heavy Industries, Govt. of India.

Shri Prasanna Patwardhan, President, BOCI said, “Pandemic has disrupted lives of millions over the last couple of years. The transport sector has been brutally hit as well and lives of thousands of operators across India were impacted severely. We have been through a debilitating period and are still recovering from the havoc created by the lockdowns and pandemic.

I am happy that the sector has come together and is present here full strength. Prawaas 3.0 is our endeavour to bring public transport stakeholders together to ideate, showcase innovations and share best practices. Public transport in India needs a major boost given the sheer number of people it transports. Public transport carries 32 crore passengers daily, far higher than any other means of transport in India. Of this, over 85% is serviced by private operators of BOCI. Prawaas is our effort to draw attention of the policymakers and the government to take the needs of our sector into cognisance and work towards creating a favourable environment for the sector to thrive. The sector badly needs fiscal impetus, tax relief and availability of capital. We also seek industry status from the government to enable and empower our sector.”

Prawaas 3.0 will feature Exhibition, Conferences & Workshops, Awards Function, Round table discussions, CEO Leadership Talks and panel discussions featuring sector leaders from across the country. The Exhibition boasts of the largest showcase of passenger vehicles, after-market solutions, accessories, consumables, IT & ITS solutions, and allied products & services.

Given the central theme, this edition of Prawaas has a strong focus on showcasing Electric Vehicles and sustainable mobility. The Conference will present new trends and explore new opportunities in the sector in new normal. The passenger mobility sector will also discuss current and recommended regulatory and policy framework to enable and empower the sector that truly moves India.

Shri Jagdeo Singh Khalsa, Chairman, BOCI said, “Public transport in India needs urgent attention, given our vast country and large populace. There is a need for a greater collaboration between stakeholders both public and private to revamp the sector and bring it on par with the best globally. Our efforts with Prawaas is to create a platform that brings together all key stakeholders to revitalize the public transport in India.”

Shri G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and Development of North-eastern Region (DoNER), Government of India and Member of Parliament – Secunderabad said, “I am happy to be here with the Prawaas family. I commend and appreciate BOCI for bringing all public mobility stakeholders together on one platform.  This is a great initiative and Prawaas is a platform that will help us introspect, ideate and formulate the roadmap for growth of public transport in the country.”

Prawaas 3.0 will attract 10000+ Business Visitors from 28 States of India and 8 Union Territories, 100+ Expert Speakers in the conference and 200+ leading Exhibitors across all sectors. Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, VE Commercial, Red Bus, Bharat Benz, Mahindra, Olectra, Cummins, Force Motors, Exide-leclanche, Blackbuk EV, Bitla Software, Valeo, SML, Intel, KPIT, Kyndryl, Paytm, ICICI Bank, etc. are some of the key participants.

About Bus & Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI)

Bus & Car Operators Confederation of India is the apex organization of all the State Federations of private sector Bus & Car passenger Transport operators across India. BOCI represents eight important passenger Transport segments viz; Intercity, Intracity, School Transport, Employee Transport, Tour Operators, Taxi Cabs, Tourist Cabs and PPP-SPVs. We are also adding Critical & Emergency response service for the first time which is emerging as a major sector.

BOCI aims to promote Safe, Smart and Sustainable Integrated Passenger Mobility solutions to the citizens of India in close coordination with all the stake holders from public & private sectors.

The significance of BOCI can be measured by the fact that over 1.5 million buses are operated by its members today on Indian Roads and it is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years.