The IPL management is learnt to have approached Ludhiana-based Laggar Industries, a key player in the armouring business, with this bulk order at a budget of several crores. “This (bullet-proof vehicles) is a recommendation that has been given to us. We’re looking into it and we’re hoping we will manage it,” a senior IPL official confirmed on Thursday.

But the problem for Laggar Industries in accepting this massive order is the shortage of time. While the IPL management is in a tearing hurry to have this fleet of bullet-proof vehicles ready at the earliest, the company has thrown up its hands, saying work of this scale requires approximately five months.

“The IPL management approached us last week for this order. We have not accepted it yet as they’re giving us too little time to execute this project," Sanchit Sobti, a director at Laggar Industries, told The Indian Express.

“We’re still in correspondence with them on the issue. It takes at least two months to armour a vehicle, and they want us to bullet-proof 64 cars and 16 buses in a fortnight. We need some five months to execute that kind of order. A hurried, shoddy job is neither our sort of work, nor is it desirable since it’s a sensitive issue and would hit our credibility in any case of a security lapse.”

The IPL organisers are now exploring the possibility of hiring bullet-proof vehicles to meet their requirement.