Thursday, September 25, 2008

India's Tata Motors Removes Equipment From 'Cheapest Car' Plant

24 September 2008


India's Tata Motors has begun removing equipment from its "cheapest car" factory in eastern India, after no resolution in a land dispute.

A Tata spokesman would not comment Wednesday, but there are reports that the equipment is being moved from the Singur plant in West Bengal state to Tata's existing facility in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

A first look at the world's cheapest car, Tata's Nano, 10 Jan 2008
A first look at the world's cheapest car, Tata's Nano, 10 Jan 2008
The Tata plant was set to manufacture what is being called the world's cheapest car - the "Nano."


Work has been shut down for several weeks after deadly protests by the West Bengal's opposition party, which says that local villagers were unfairly compensated for their land, that was used to build the factory.

Efforts to resolve the standoff have failed, with protesters recently rejecting a government offer to return 30 hectares of land.

Tata officials have said they are considering moving the plant out of West Bengal.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.