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Demand for bullet-proof cars spawns a new industry

Veeresh Malik in New Delhi

While car-makers slug it out for market-shares, a parallel market for bullet-proof cars is hotting up with increasing demand. The manufacturers of bullet-proof cars in India seek no publicity: after all, business is booming.

After a slump following the return of normalcy to Punjab, it is busy season again in the many automobile garages of north India that specialise in converting ordinary vehicles into bullet-proof units.

It is not just the politicians and wanna-be leaders who are going in for ultra-safe cars what with elections coming up. Para-military forces on duty in the north-east, the Naxalites-infested Andhra Pradesh and the infiltrators-packed Kashmir also use the safe vehicles.

However, there is a new breed of customers. Multinational corporations' chief executives, builders who have already lost family members, industrialists who have been kidnapped and released, musicians and singers who suddenly realise that too much visibility courtesy cola companies is not so cool, film stars and television personalities who make tonnes of money and face threats from the mafia, and generally rich guys out to impress the world with their status symbols, all these people are in love with bullet-proof cars.

And their love has spawned a neat, little industry whose turnover keeps increasing.

A survey of the bullet-proof cars market revealed that a few models are preferred to others for upgrading. The Ambassador and the Contessa of Hindustan Motors, the Sumo, the Safari and the Sierra of Telco, the Armada of Mahindra and Mahindra, and the Gypsy King of Maruti are the most visible bullet-proof cars. None of the new-age snazzy cars is converted into a safe vehicle.

Industry specialists said vehicles with a strong chassis on which one can build a solid steel frame or roll bar and extra engine power are ideal for conversion.

To make a vehicle bullet-proof, kevlar, a tough fabric made by DuPont is used. It is applied inside the car body in layers, about 24 of them, with fillings inside made of a variety of materials. This can counter low velocity bullets fired from light weapons like pistols or revolvers.

Others go in for bullet-proof glass of 30mm to 40mm. This could cost anywhere between Rs 300,000 and Rs 600,000, depending on the car and the specifications.

Since bad guys in India usually choose to use AK-47 type automatic weapons or carbines, the vehicles need powerful engines. 'Bullet-proofing' a car involves steel armour plating, installing special grade glass, firing ports to shoot back, strong airconditioning systems, strong suspension systems, special heavy-duty wheels fitted with self-sealing "get-home" tyres which do not deflate completely unless torn to shreds. This would cost Rs 300,000, maybe even Rs 3 million sometimes, if the vehicle to be done up is a bus or a large car.

These modifications are usually good enough for safety from an average low-intelligence terrorist, but will not work against those determined to shoot at the joints or are willing to smoke out the target. Seeking safety from such a threat adds tremendously to the vehicle weight. All this is, however, absolutely useless against the increasingly popular landmines.

The top-of-the-line bullet-proof cars are usually imported or have imported designs at least. These are based on a very pro-active South African design, where the floor-pan is strengthened in a "V" shape to deflect intense explosions from below. Flame-throwers are mounted all around to dissuade people with large weapons from getting too close.

But it is the super-secret metal/poly-carbonate "alloy" that is used which really does wonders. How it reaches the market is unknown, but there are customers aplenty, though they prefer silence to sharing thoughts with media-persons.

The "bullet-proofing industry" is increasingly looking at business from abroad. A leading European bank, which has recently made great inroads into India, is seeking to provide clients in India and abroad with bullet-proof cars fabricated in India. Security companies' cash vans with one-way doors and fire-proof as well as bullet-proof interiors are another emerging market.

One interesting feature of the bullet-proof vehicle market is that it enjoys demand from both bad guys and good guys.

The manufacturers say that they are now caught in a rather odd bind: the bad guys don't want them to make such vehicles for the good guys while the good guys don't want them to do so for the bad guys.

Not one customer was willing to be interviewed for this article. By one estimate, Delhi has about 300 privately owned bullet-proof cars. When Bill Gates visited India, he did not have to fly one in, the local ones were good enough.

But, at the end of the day, the fit and finish is still crude in this largely hand-operated industry. In other words, a business opportunity beckons.

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