Tata Motors is the only Indian company, across all sections, to have won the award.
Now that the Left Front has cowed down to Mamata Banerjee's persistent pressure, it sends out a loud signal to their detractors -- unless you create nuisance in this state, you won't be heard.
Jamshedpur gave birth to Telco (now Tata Motors) which has just launched the low-cost Nano; Jamshedpur, according to the 35-year old Tata Housing Development Company managing director Brotin Banerjee, is what inspired Tata Housing to launch its Shubh Griha low-cost housing project in Mumbai.
"We have no function at our manufacturing plant," said a Tata Motors official from its Pantnagar facility from where it was rolled out one year ago.
Higher price tag and soaring fuel costs have swayed buyers away from the ultra compact car over the months.
Inaugurating the facility, spread over about 1,100 acres, Narendra Modi said it cost him Re 1 to have the plant in the state.
Tata Motors, however, will not be able to meet this small demand and keep the Nano alive from October next year, when safety regulations for existing car models kick in.
There were certainly qualities adhering to the Tata Group, which emanated from the persona of Ratan Tata. Most notable of these would be the low profile he maintained, which sharply contrasted the in-your-face celebrity status, celebration of wealth and pursuit of importance many of liberalised India's rich, love, notes Shyam G Menon.
Tata Motors plans to open exclusive showrooms for its small car Nano in smaller towns, taking a leaf out of its runaway success mini truck Ace, which is also sold through 600 standalone stores along with normal dealerships across the country.
Tata Motors has offered the Nano small car to consumers who wish to buy it using credit cards.
The cabinet approved the auto major's demand to lower the rent from Rs 5 per sq metre to Rs 1 per sq metre.
Tata Motors, currently produces Nano from its plants at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand and Sanand in Gujarat.
The company plans test production of 50-60 cars per day from January.
'We want to make Bengal an automobile hub.'
In Uttarakhand, the speculation is rife that Bajaj-Renault is trying to explore the possibility of the small car establishment at various places including the industrial hub of Pantnagar.
Tata Motors' Nano may be struggling to survive, but Renault Nissan alliance Chairman and chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn is glad the group followed the lead of "visionary" Ratan Tata's dream project
The company has been in discussions with vendors who are moving from Singur to Sanand to support them with mutually acceptable terms, which will be implemented.
Official sources said that top company officials recently met Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri and demanded 35 acres of additional land for expanding the facility. Earlier, the company had sought 55 acres of land at Pantnagar for housing purpose. The government is yet to take a decision in this regard.
Tata Motors, India's third-largest car maker, plans to use the platform of its low-cost small car Nano to build electric and hybrid cars.
The bookings for Rs 1 lakh Nano car by the Tata Motors are pouring in from all parts of the country as the sole booking agent SBI said it has distributed lakhs of applications for the world's cheapest car.
There have been reports of fire breaking out in Nano near the steering column of the car from three different places -- Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Delhi.
Even after people rushed to various centres to book the Nano on Saturday, the last official day for doing so, dealers undertook bookings on Sunday and Monday, breaching the time-line set by Tata Motors.
"Nano is like an open canvas for us. We have the option of positioning it on the lines of the (Volkswagen) Beetle or the (BMW) Mini."
Tata Motors, India's largest car maker by revenue, is exploring the possibility of adding more models to the production line at its Sanand plant in Gujarat.
In all, Tata Motors received 206,703 applications for the Nano. It also said that deliveries to the first batch of 100,000 applicants will begin in July and is expected to be completed by the last quarter of 2010. The company is presently manufacturing the Nano at its plant in Uttarakhand; production at the car's mother plant at Sanand, Gujarat, will only start later this year or early next year.
The Indian conglomerate is also studying investments in automobiles, software and hotel businesses, as well as biofuel in South American markets such as Brazil and Argentina.
NRI businessman Prasoon Mukherjee, chairman, Universal Success Enterprises, said that the West Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was briefed about the status of the projects in the state. Universal Success is also investing in the projects. The main projects were the housing project under Kolkata West International City, the chemical hub of NKID, the power project of Universal Success and the motorcycle project to be undertaken by Mahabharat Motors.
People in the hilly town of Gopeshwar in Chamoli district were recently surprised to see the Nano, Tata Motors' controversial Rs 100,000 car, parked on a roadside.
Uttarakhand government has written to Tata Motors, asking the auto major to sell a majority of the Nano cars through its new subsidiary, Tata Motors Distribution Co Limited, which was recently floated at Pantnagar. Through the sale of the Nano cars and other commercial vehicles which are being manufactured at Pantnagar, the state government is hoping to earn additional tax collections of Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore through a 12 percent VAT.
Tatas selected West Bengal for Rs 1 lakh small car Nano's plant on May 18, 2016.
Irked by constant intimidation of its workforce by agitating party workers, the company had yesterday evacuated the manpower from Singur. "There has been no improvement in the ground situation so far, hence the conditions are still not conducive for resuming work today," a Tata Motors spokesperson said. "We continue to assess the situation closely," he said.
Big vendors left with smaller amounts as formula for compensation based on despatches.
Meanwhile, pre-construction work has begun at the Nano plant site in Sanand near Ahmedabad. Spread across an area of 1,100 acres of land, the plant will bear an investment of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion).
India's most fuel efficient IC-engine car that gives 36 km/kg.
Admitting that Nano has 'wasted an early opportunity' due to teething problems, Tata Group chief Ratan Tata on Thursday said Tata Motors will do everything to undo the tag of 'poor man's car'.
Tata Motors has set up a separate team at its plant in Pune to examine ways to cut manufacturing costs on the Nano, the small car scheduled for an October launch, to bring the ex-showroom price down to the psychological Rs 1 lakh mark, managing director Ravi Kant said.
The company, which unveiled the electric version of the small car -- Tata Nano EV -- would also launch the version in the domestic market. However, no possible timeframe has been fixed for its launch in the home market.
Nano vendors say if all-India bookings cross 500,000, Tata Motors may have to explore the option of having a satellite plant to its present mother factory at Sanand near Ahmedabad. Many who had taken up space at the vendor park in Singur, the centre of the main dispute with the give-us-our-land-back agitationists led by the opposition Trinamool Congress, are hanging on in this hope.
The Nano is developed to meet all the safety features that are applicable for passenger cars in India -- which is not saying much. What we like is the fact that the car will be able to meet the upcoming safety norms too. Current norms stipulate that the cars sold in India should meet norms set for full frontal crash, head impact on steering wheel, body block impact on steering system and seat belt anchorage strength, etc.
American car maker General Motors on Thursday said it has shelved plans to launch small car in India that was planned to take on Tata Motors' 'Nano', citing viability issues.
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