New Delhi, July 7 -- India's legacy commercial vehicle makers are increasingly turning to their group companies for electric bus orders, as aggressive bidding by newer rivals squeezes them out of government contracts.

Electric bus units of conglomerates, including Tata Motors Ltd, Ashok Leyland Ltd and JSW Greentech Ltd, are tapping demand from sister companies across steel, aviation and manufacturing businesses to keep production lines running while public tender wins dry up.

The push from these busmakers comes at a time when companies have called out aggressive pricing in government tenders, which they claim are unsustainable in the long run.

Over the past 12 months, the central government has tendered around 17,000 electric buses th...