Much awaited Ratan Tata's one-lakh rupees car to hit road by October
10 Jan 2008, 2107 Hrs

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New Delhi, Jan 10 (ANI): The much awaited one-lakh rupees car, Nano, that was unveiled by Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata on Thursday is likely to hit roads by October.

"I would like to announce today, standard car will in fact be - will have a dealer price of rupees one lakh only, VAT (Value Added Tax) and transport being extra. Having said that, I just want to say that's because a promise is a promise," Ratan Tata said.

Tata confounded his detractors by announcing that the car would conform to all the emission norms prevailing in the country and would also meet the requirements of the most stringent western countries on the environmental front.

"In terms of pollution, it today conforms to Bharat-3 and in fact today with this engine we will indeed meet Euro-4 which is not yet required in this country," Tata said.

The three-cylinder 800-cc petrol engine car will give mileage of 22 Kilo meter per litre (kmpl) to 26 kmpl on highway and it has a 33 brake horse power (bhp) of power.

Nano have a 30-litre fuel tank, four-speed manual gearshift, Front disk and rear drum brakes. It will come with air conditioning, but will have no power steering.

Kalpana Singh a housewife in the capital, said at the promised price tag, everybody would be able to buy the car.

"I am very happy that now everybody would be able to afford a car. When we commute on a two wheeler scooter or a motorbike, it becomes really tough to go out during rains or chilly winter," she said.

Many Indians who already own a car say they would buy this as the second car for their wives or daughters.

"It is very difficult to travel on two wheelers, so (with the Tata's new car) it will be very easy as everybody will be in reach (can afford) to buy that one lakh car . It's a good one," said Soumya Sinha, a 21-year-old student said.

But this unbridled enthusiasm has been hounding environmentalists as they predict a plague of ever-cheaper cars and ever-swelling clouds of climate-changing fumes.

Sunita Narayan, director of the Non governmental Centre for Science and Environment, said an efficient public transport system was the answer to India's traffic and environmental woes. More cars on the already clogged roads would only add to the chaos.

"With cars you get an added problem. You get pollution and you get congestion, and when you get congestion, you get more pollution. So what you have is a scenario in which you can be very clear that your lungs are going to be in problem, your air is going to be unbreathable, lets be very very clear," Narayan said.

"The car does not give you the answer for mobility, it does not give you the answer to clean air or to public health. The car I will say again is the problem, it is not the solution," she added. (ANI)

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