Italian car manufacturer Fiat on Thursday announced it would roll out the “world’s cheapest car” in India by 2010.  The launch would take place globally, Fiat’s CEO, Mr Sergia Marchionne told reporters on the sidelines of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers conclave here. The CEO did not disclose the price of the proposed “cheapest” car. The Tata group, India’s major car makers, is slated to market its cheapest car, Nano, in October this year. Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki India said it has no plans to cut the price of Maruti 800 to compete with Tata Motors’ Nano. (more…)

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Fiat premium cars Grande Punto and Linea will be manufactured in Ranjangaon in Maharashtra under the joint venture between Fiat Group Automobiles and Tata Motors. Under the definitive agreement signed on Thursday, the JV will manufacture passenger cars, engines and transmissions for the Indian and overseas markets,
The assembly of the Fiat Palio has already commenced in Ranjangaon. The JV will also manufacture one of Tata’s next-generation vehicles

The plant will have an estimated output of 1,00,000 cars and 2,00,000 engines and transmissions. The overall investments will exceed 650 million euros. The two partners said in a joint press statement release that the distribution and service of Fiat branded cars in India will continue to be managed by Tata Motors. Th JV partners will have an equal representation on the board of directors. The MD of Tata Motors, Ravi Kant, will be the chairman of the JV and Mr Alfredo Altavilla chief executive officer of Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT) will be the vice-chairman.

Tags: TATA

Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata has said any failure of the Indo-US nuclear deal would be a “serious setback” for India and could impact inflow of foreign direct investments to the country.In an interview with Karan Thapar for Devil’s Advocate programme on television channel CNN-IBN, Tata said the civil nuclear deal with the US was in many ways the best possible thing that had happened to India in a long time.Asked would it be a setback if the deal didn’t materialise, he said: “I believe it is a serious setback to India. I believe the only people happy to see this not happening are probably Pakistan and China.” Apprehending implications on FDI inflows if the deal were to fail, Tata said: “I think it could because I think there would be repercussions and there would be reactions.” The industry doyen felt a need for the present political system to change and take a re-look at ideologies.On a question if the Left needed to reinvent itself, he declined a direct reply but said: “We all need to reinvent ourselves. Even the Vatican reinvents itself.” Hitting out at political parties for “opposing for the sake of opposing,” Tata said: “I really do wish we could go back to the days when we had stronger coalitions or single parties in government and a two-party system in the House where you really dealt with issues and serious ideologies.”

Tags: FDI, N-DEAL, TATA

Domestic steel giants Tatas and Essar have received the Centre’s nod to prospect more than 250 million tonnes of iron ore in Bailadila mines in Chhattisgarh for their proposed steel projects with a total capacity of eight million tonnes.”The Centre has accorded its approval to allow us to prospect Bailadila-III deposit in Chhattisgarh. We are awaiting forest clearance from the government and will commence work only after receiving it,” Essar Steel Holdings CEO J Mehra told PTI.Prospecting would be done on more than 2,000 acres of land and it is expected that the deposit has about 150 million tonnes of iron ore. “We will complete prospecting within six months after we began the work,” he said.Essar Steel had signed an MoU with the Chhattisgarh government to set up a 3.2 million integrated steel plant at an estimated cost of Rs 7,000 crore, Mehra said.The licence given to Essar was earlier held by National Mineral Development Corporation, but the state-run reportedly lost this in February last as it had not excavated the mines.Similarly, Tata Steel has also received the government’s nod for prospecting the Bailadila-I deposit that has an estimated reserve of up to 150 million tonnes. A Tata Steel spokesman confirmed the development and said prospecting would begin in due course of time.Tata Steel plans to build a 5 million tonne steel plant at Bastar in Chhattisgarh at an estimated investment of about Rs 10,000 crore.

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Mr Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons and head of the Investment Commission said on the occasion of India’s 60th Independence Day, “I am proud of my country. But we need to unite to make a unified India, free of communalism and casteism.”
Mr Tata added: “We need to build India into a land of equal opportunity for all. We can be a truly great nation if we set our sights high and deliver to the people the fruits of continued growth, prosperity and equal opportunity.”
Mr Tata while paying tribute to the achievements of the country said, “One must recognise that great economic disparity still exists in our country and that a large portion of the population survives at or below subsistence levels while a smaller, more fortunate segment enjoys wealth and well-being.”
In its 60th year, he said: “clearly India’s time has come. The country is now universally recognised as a nation on the move and takes its place amongst the successful economies in the region. The future potential is enormous but the country’s destiny is in our hands.”
“The time has come to move from small increments to bold, large initiatives; to stretch the envelope and set goals which were earlier not seen to be possible; for performance to be measured and for allocated funds of the government to reach the people for whom they were intended,” he added.

Tags: TATA