Tata Motors looks to Pune to meet `Nano' demand: report

Tata Motors is looking at the option of setting up a new assembly line at its Pune land for scaling up production of the Rs1-lakh  `Nano' car in order to meet a rush of demand, media reports quoting company officials said.

The company is considering the feasibility of setting up an assembly line at the land in Pune returned by Mercedes-Benz India Ltd (MBIL) recently, the Mint Nespaper reported.
 
While MBIL has moved into a new plant of its own, it has left the sheds that housed the assembly lines intact, making it possible to erect new assembly lines, the report pointed out.

Bookings for the world's cheapest car, to be launched on 23 March, will open in the second week of April.

Tata Motors, which was forced to relocate its plant from Singur in west Bengal to Sanand in Gujarat, is now without a plant exclusively for the production of `Nano'. The factory in Sanand is still under construction.

It is unlikely that the temporary facility at its Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand matches production with demand.

Production of the Nano, which is already way behind schedule, following the relocation of the component manufactures and the company's own shifting out of its original location at Singur, is also hampered by inadequate assembly space.

Alternatively, the company is also trying to beef up the assembly lines at Pantnagar which were originally made for the Ace commercial vehicle.

Tata Motors has not many parts suppliers in place at Sanand to provide the volume of supplies that the Nano needs, the report said quoting company officials.