VE Commercial Vehicles, the 50:50 joint venture between the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, expects pick-up in demand for heavy and medium-duty trucks in the second half of this calendar year after a new union government assumes office.

"We are all waiting for the seminal change that will happen post this election," Shyam Maller, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at VE Commercial Vehicles, said in Hyderabad on May 12th.

Results of the general elections that will decide which party or coalition will form the union government in New Delhi will be known on May 16th, when the votes are counted.

Maller said the new government is likely to introduce infrastructure development initiatives like road construction across the country, which in turn could spur demand for trucks across the country.

Besides, "bold decisions" to start the stagnant mining sector could also see a revival in demand for heavy and medium-duty trucks, he said. "The mining ban killed the demand from the mining sector," Maller said.

Production and exports of iron ore in 90 mines in Goa were banned in September 2012 following a similar ban on illegal mining in neighbouring Karnataka in 2011. The bans in turn affected the business of the trucking industry that transports the raw material.

The Supreme Court last month lifted the 19-month-old mining ban in Goa by capping annual extraction at 20 million tonnes. That offered a "glimmer of hope" for the truck industry, Maller said. Resumption of mining in some parts of North Karnataka last year and in Odisha also helped stimulate demand for trucks, Maller said.

Signs of an economic revival will start with demand increase for heavy duty trucks in the 16 to 49-tonne capacity, followed by medium and light-duty trucks in the 5 to 14-tonne capacity, Eicher executives said.

"After being under turmoil for many months, we see positive signs of the market catching up," said Maller.

The first four months of this calendar year saw a slump of 8% for Eicher's heavy-duty truck segment while the light and medium-duty truck segment has seen a fall of 32% in the same period.

Volvo and Eicher manufacture their own brands of trucks and buses but collaborate in sales, distribution and after-sales support as part of the joint venture. Eicher trucks and buses are manufactured in Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh while Volvo manufactures its commercial vehicles at Hoskote near Bangalore.

Eicher executives expect the new government to increase excise duty which in turn will reflect in a price increase for commercial vehicles.

The truck and bus-maker currently has 31% market-share in the light and medium-duty truck segment, 5% in the heavy-duty truck segment and 13.5% in the bus segment. Eicher has 13.8% market-share in the commercial vehicle segment.