Capt Suresh Sharma built Taurus, India's first luxury overland truck

An army veteran who built his own caravans

Capt Suresh Sharma retired from the Indian Army after six years as a combat soldier, followed by 18 months in action with the Indian Peace Keeping Force, according to his profile on the Green Dot Expeditions website. The same page says he has put in 25 years of caravanning and 32 years in the tourism trade.

Sharma did not do this alone. Green Dot Expeditions was founded with his wife, Dr Rajbir Kaur Sharma, a qualified homeopathic doctor, and the company's team page says the couple designed and built both of their caravans themselves. The first was named Kingcobra. In 2000, Sharma drove it from north India to the south with his then six month old daughter on board, a journey of about 12,000 km spread over half a year, Business Today reported in 2022. That trip is the one Sharma points to as the start of his caravan tourism career. Green Dot Expeditions, based in Chandigarh and Ambala Cantt, started around 2014, eight years before the 2022 report.

Away from the road, the company's pages describe Sharma and his wife as contributors to two National Geographic Society wildlife documentaries, co-authors of two coffee table books on Indian military history, and self-funded runners of a snake awareness programme that the site says has gone on for 22 years.

Taurus, the overland truck

Their current vehicle is Taurus, which Green Dot Expeditions calls India's first luxury overland truck and describes as a mix of caravan, overland truck, campervan and motorhome. The company's site says Taurus is built to carry eight guests, and can be the base for a wilderness camp hosting around 25 people in total. [[graphic:1]]

Onboard, the company says Taurus carries a Weber Barbecue Grill Q3200, what it calls the best outdoor kitchen in mobile camping, toilet facilities and power to charge batteries through a trip. Sharma works as the vehicle's driver and chef on expeditions. Green Dot Expeditions says Taurus has camped on the Ravi riverbank near Madhopur in Punjab and has travelled to Ladakh, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. These are the company's own descriptions of its vehicle and should be read as such, not as independently verified superlatives.

A workshop, not a vanity van maker

Green Dot Expeditions describes itself as a caravan and RV design and fabrication consultancy rather than a vanity van builder. Its site lists caravan and campervan conversions, food trailers and trucks, and a franchise model for caravan tourism businesses across India. Sharma's son Chirag also works on the fabrication side, alongside his parents and other technicians, the company says.

What a Taurus trip costs

Business Today's 2022 report put Sharma's Taurus trips at about ₹4,500 per person per night, with custom itineraries available beyond the fixed summer routes to Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. The same report named other operators in the same market: Carvaa Travelers at ₹5,500 to ₹9,500 a night with a driver, Carawander at ₹18,000 to ₹22,000 a night, and Motohom at ₹21,000 a day for a luxury caravan or ₹4,500 a day for a self driven camper.

For a rider or driver planning a Himalayan or Kutch trip who wants a mobile camp rather than a tent and a car boot, Sharma's story is also a small history of how caravan tourism began in India, one self built vehicle at a time, before state tourism departments wrote caravan policies or larger operators entered the market.

Sources

• How Caravan Travel Is Picking up In India, Business Today
• Capt Suresh Sharma profile, Green Dot Expeditions
• Taurus overland truck, Green Dot Expeditions
• Caravan design and fabrication, Green Dot Expeditions
• Our Team, Green Dot Expeditions