Tata Motors said on Thursday the Karnataka Government was willing to offer 1,000 acres of land and other incentives to the company if it had plans to relocate the Nano small car project to the State.

“We are actively looking at alternative sites,” the Tata Motors Managing Director, Mr Ravi Kant, told newspersons here after meeting the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa. “If we have to relocate, we will need to have 1,000 acres. It will be an integrated plant,” Mr Ravi Kant said.

Later, Mr Yeddyurappa told newspersons after a Cabinet meeting, that Tata Motors’ top executives had a meeting with him and he had extended all assistance and incentives if the company wished to relocate its Nano plant to Karnataka. “In case they want to shift, we will give them all support,” he said.

Preliminary stage

The Chief Minister, however, said that the talks were at a preliminary stage and Tata Motors officials had informed him that in case the company plans to shift out of West Bengal, it would consider Karnataka’s offer.

Tata Motors suspended construction work at the Nano small car plant in Singur, near Kolkata, on September 2 citing hostile environment at the site. The company had also said it was working out detailed plans to relocate the plant and machinery to another site.

The Trinamool Congress has been agitating demanding return of land to those farmers who were not willing to part with their land for the project. “We are watching the situation (in Singur) carefully,” Mr Ravi Kant said.

Tata Motors had earlier indicated that it was planning to set up assembly plants in Dharwad in north Karnataka and a few other cities for Nano small car, but no decision has been taken so far in this regard.

The company has about 900 acres of land in Dharwad where it has a manufacturing base for low-floor buses in collaboration with Marcopolo S.A. of Brazil. These buses are expected to be launched some time next month in Karnataka.

By: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/09/19/stories/2008091952830100.htm

Tata Motors is ready for production and the project is on schedule. The car will be exhibited for the first time to the general public in Auto Expo 2008 in New Delhi.

The car will be a four-door, four to five seater car featuring a 600cc petrol engine. Recently, BusinessWeek has named Rs 1 lakh car as one of the trendsetters of 2007, while Ratan Tata has been listed among the world's "Most Important People" of the year.

The BPO cab vendors, taxi operators and tour operators are eagerly awaiting the car. lowever, the government’s permission will be mandatory to allow commercial use of the Tata Motors Rs 1-lakh car.

Let us call the One Lakh Car as OLC as its shorter to name it. The car is simple and looks better than compared to the maruti 800. A low cost car which means a hatch 4 door with a boot, and low down manufacturing costs. The car has to be made for the Indian roads, so its gotta be cheap to run, low maintainance and spare cost and enough comfort for 5 or 4. This idea was bought up almost a decade ago, in an autoshow.

Tata is adding 2 engines to the car that is the petrol 660cc and the diesel 700cc. Buying products in bulk also supports the low cost. It is a 2 cylinder engine which is also low cost. The car is rather small and a small engine with 2 cylinder, and it will be definately giving good mileage, an average of 25Kmpl has been rumoured but might come up well on the release, and even more for the diesel, that means this car gives mileage more than the Bajaj Auto. If the car dosent go well it can be used as autos too!! dont worry just kidding.. If given good mileage, this car would be given a great response, its like near the Bajaj Pulsar 220cc.

Coming to the interiors, its not been shown, looking at the height, the headroom will be enough and the width of the car shows that 4 can accomodate easily, but the fifth one gotta squeez up. The interior features would be really basic, even a music system would be doubtful, although the necessary like speed, odo and fuel meters will be present.

The performance lets keep this for the future, if we get it what will be there to write about if the car is released. But don’t expect a Fiesta out of it.