State may get Tata car unit

State may get Tata car unit
DH News Service

From B S Arun

New Delhi: The Tata Motors is understood to be seriously considering a location in Karnataka — either near Mysore or Dharwad – as one of the assembling units for its ambitious small car project.

The car – which the Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata wants to sell at Rs 1 lakh – may hit the Indian roads in 2008 or 2009.

The Tata Motors, which will manufacture perhaps the lowest priced petrol-driven car in the world, is said to have examined several locations in Maharashtra and West Bengal, besides Karnataka. The project may come up on four different locations — three for assembly and one for manufacturing. The Karnataka government was said to have forwarded a plan to locate the project at Mysore to Mr Tata when he visited Bangalore some time ago and the latter had shown interest in it. The other location was Dharwad where the Group’s Telco already holds land. The other plots the company has seen include Pune and Guptamani, near Kharagpur.


The West Bengal government is said to be aggressively pursuing the Tatas as the Tata Steel (which manufactures cold rolled sheet for car body) is located at near

Jamshedpur and Tata Metaliks, which supplies grey iron casting for the chassis, has a plant at Kharagpur. The WB government, sources say, is of the opinion that these two plants could help Tatas cut costs for the small car project.

While the Karnataka government sources confirmed that the Tatas have shown interest to locate a part of the project in the State, a Tata Motors spokesman, speaking to Deccan Herald, said he had no comments on the issue. The small car had been a dream project for Mr Tata. He had stated that although a host of factors like inflation and steel prices may make it difficult to maintain the proposed price tag at the time of the launch, the company hoped to hold on to the price despite that.

The project needs an area of 700 to 1,000 acres (if it is to be located at a single place) and the initial investment is likely to around Rs 1,000 crore. The company wants to project its small car as a direct competitor to Maruti 800 whose standard model now costs over Rs 2 lakh. India’s largest selling car is a 796 cc, three-cylinder vehicle. Tata’s small car will be a 700 cc, Euro IV compliant petrol version, rear-wheel powered vehicle with engine at the back.

Small is beautiful

*It’s for the Tatas’ Rs 1 lakh car

*Two locations — either Mysore or Dharwad

*State has given plan to Ratan Tata

* Bengal too pushing for it