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Work apace at Tata Nano car project

— PHOTO: PTI

MAKING THINGS HAPPEN: Ravi Kanth, Managing Director, Tata Motors, addressing the media after a meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, at the State Secretariat in Kolkata on Saturday.

KOLKATA: The Tata small car Nano is set to start trial runs by August prior to its scheduled roll-out during Durga Puja (in October) Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant said.

Mr. Ravi Kant who had a half-an-hour meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharyya, at the State Secretariat, said that several decisions had been taken on Friday to “expedite and accelerate things which may have been lagging behind”. He also said that the project has had cost overrun and enquiries were being received from overseas for locating a Nano plant there. Mr. Ravi Kant made his first site visit since the panchayat elections to the project site at Singur on Friday when 12 rounds of tear gas shells had to be fired by the police to disperse an agitating mob. A company statement said that he was on a routine visit to assess the plant’s progress.

“We are not here to do get involved in any politics but we are here to manufacture the product and work with everybody and we are free for discussion with any body,” he said. He said the project has had many challenges. “But the Tatas are fully committed to the plant. We are working at breakneck speed we will start trial production as soon as possible.” Admitting that the project has faced cost overrun, he said this was because it had undergone many changes. “We have invested over Rs. 2,000 crore here”. The earlier cost of the Rs. 1 lakh car project was pegged at Rs. 1,700 crore.

The MD was accompanied at the meeting by Senior General Manager, government affairs and collaboration, A. Puri, and Head of the Nano project, Girish Wagh. On the government side, the principal secretary to the chief minister, Subesh Das, was present.

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