Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The domestic commercial vehicle (CV) sales volume is projected to reach 1 million units this fiscal (FY26), reclaiming the pre-pandemic peak logged in fiscal 2019, a Crisil report said on April 16, IANS reported.
This is due to accelerating infrastructure execution, replacement demand and policy support from the PM-eBus Sewa scheme. The sector’s credit outlook remains stable, supported by strong liquidity and healthy cash flows.
Light commercial vehicles (LCVs), which will be 62 per cent of total volume, will lead the growth, driven by rising penetration of e-commerce and warehousing, while a pickup in freight-intensive sectors such as cement and mining will boost overall demand.
“Domestic CV volume should grow 3-5 per cent this fiscal, rebounding from last fiscal’s slowdown and aligning with the sector’s long-term growth trend,” said Anuj Sethi, Senior Director, Crisil Ratings. The recovery will be driven by a revival in infrastructure execution – an anchor for CV demand – which gained momentum in the last quarter of fiscal 2025 and is likely to sustain on the back of a 10-11 per cent rise in Central Government capex. “A strong replacement cycle, expected to account for about a fifth of the volume, will further support demand,” Sethi added.
Regulatory changes will reshape the CV landscape this fiscal, with mandatory air-conditioned cabins in trucks from October 2025 likely increasing costs by at least Rs 30,000 per unit, particularly for medium and heavy commercial vehicles. For the record, CV makers have already increased prices by 2-3 per cent in January to offset the rise in compliance costs.
