Nano trial production at Singur to start by July
IT'S official now. Tata Motors will kick off trial production of Nano at its Singur factory by June-July. The much-awaited Rs 1-lakh car will be commercially available nationally by September-October. This was announced on Wednesday by Tata Motors MD Ravi Kant. Mr Kant, who had dropped into the Singur factory to review the progress, said: "Trial production of Nano would kick off by June-July and commercial production would start in Singur by September-October.' Tata Motors MD, however, stopped short of revealing the details of the upcoming commercial rollout of Nano. Talking to newsmen here Mr Kant said: "We are happy with the progress. There are huge challenges but the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Tata Motors and the West Bengal government are working together to ensure that the commencement of Nano production is not hampered.' The Shapoorji Pallonji Group is engaged in construction of the Singur factory. Mr Kant, along with members of his management team comprising MB Kulkarni, GM (CPED); AS Puri, senior GM (government affairs & collaborations); E Balasubramaniam, head (vendor development); and Girish Wagh, Tata Motors head (Nano project) flew down from Mumbai to get a sense of the pace of the Singur factory rollout. They spent nearly three hours in the factory premises where work had earlier this year been delayed by nearly two months due heavy flooding. Mr Kant added: "Trial production will take place in June-July, following which, equipment will be tested. It may be a month or two later that we will start regular production.'