Kolkata: Tata Motors on Thursday announced setting up of its much-awaited small car manufacturing unit in West Bengal by 2008 with an investment of over Rs 1000 crore, setting aside the claims of several other states.
Making this major announcement on the opening day of the seventh Left Front Government in West Bengal, Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata said the plant would be set up on a 1000-acre land at Singur in Hooghly district, about 85 km from here.
Describing the investment and the Tata Group's decision to set up a major automobile plant in the state as a 'reflection of the confidence that the group has in the investment climate and the state government', Tata said they also planned to invest another about Rs 250 crores for the expansion and modernisation of Tata Motor's subsidiary Telcon at Kharagpur, about 100 km from here.
Incidentally, Telcon produces heavy earth-moving equipment and machineries for the engineering sector.
Elaborating on the small car plant, Tata said the prototype of the four-door rear engine Rs 1 lakh car had been frozen and the first car was expected to roll out by 2008.
Tata said the plant would initially create about 200 to 300 direct employment besides, generating about 7000 more jobs for the vendors and other service providers in the plant's vicinity.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee, who was also present at the press conference, said the process of land acquisition for the small car plant had already begun and would be completed very soon following which the construction of the plant would actually begin.
Tata also announced a Rs 250-crore expansion plan for the Kharagpur-based Tata Earth Moving Equipment Ltd.
Giving brief details of the small car, the Tata Motors Chairman said it would be a rear-engine one with four doors and accommodate 4-5 passengers.
Asked that whether the company would be able to maintain the Rs 1 lakh price tag, he said: "Our aim is to keep the price at Rs 1 lakh."
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