People in the hilly town of Gopeshwar in Chamoli district were recently surprised to see the Nano, Tata Motors’ controversial Rs 1 lakh car, parked on a roadside.

The Nano had travelled all the way from Pantnagar, crossing the tough, serpentine roads of Uttarakhand, to reach picturesque Gopeshwar nestling in the Garhwal Himalayan region.

This was one of the Nano’s toughest tests, being conducted by engineers of Tata Motors in the rugged Himalayan region.

Significantly, the mileage of the small car is being projected at 17-20 km per litre in the hills.

“We have conducted the test drive of Nano in the hills of Uttarakhand and Pune. Initial reports are very encouraging,” an official of the Tata Motors plant at Pantnagar told Business Standard.

Now after a series of test drives, the car is set to be launched in the first quarter of the next financial year, the official said. The exact date of the launch of Nano would, however, be decided by Chairman Ratan Tata, the official added.

The company has already given a commitment to Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri that it would roll out the first Nano from the state.

For expansion, the company has been allotted 45 acres of extra land at Pantnagar by the state government. A decision in this regard was taken by a high-powered committee headed by Khanduri, which met here on December 22.

Tata Motors is currently manufacturing Ace trucks at the Pantnagar facility. The commercial launch of the car has already been postponed by at least two to three months, after it was forced to relocate from West Bengal following political protests there.

Although, the mother unit of the car will be set up in Gujarat, where the company has recently been allotted 1,100 acres, the firm is also planning to set up a permanent manufacturing facility for Nano at Pantnagar.

In addition to 45 acres, the chief minister has also assured company officials that their other demands would also be considered.

The state government has been trying to lure Tata Motors to set up a permanent plant for the Nano at Pantnagar, stating that the company must benefits from the incentives available in the state in the wake of the Special Industrial Package, 2003, which offers a range of tax incentives.

News Source: http://www.business-standard.com

It is still unclear after all the months of labour pain where TATA’s Nano will finally be born, but sources say Singur’s loss may be Uttaranchal’s gain.

The Uttaranchal government has assured the TATAs a red carpet welcome if the country’s largest industrial house plans an exit from West Bengal.

Uttaranchal Chief Minister, B C Khanduri sais, “We welcome the TATA group here in Uttaranchal and establish their project. We are talking with TATAs at an official level and we hope that we will be able to reach at a conclusion very soon. It will be good for Uttaranchal as with the coming of the TATA Group, employment will be generated. And it will be beneficial for the TATAs too as they can reap the benefits of subsidies and special privileges that have been allotted to Uttaranchal by the Central Government.”

TATA already has a plant in Pantnagar, which manufactures the mini-truck Ace. If they relocate to Pantnagar, TATA could roll out the much awaited dream car Nano by tweaking the existing infrastructures.

Pantnagar has the capacity of manufacturing over 2.5 lakh Ace trucks. The plant has the capacity to manufacture an additional 40,000 Nanos.

News Source: http://www.ibnlive.com

Mumbai: Setco Automotive Ltd (Setco) manufacturers of world renowned ‘Lipe’ clutches for heavy and medium commercial vehicles on 10th last month, inaugurated its state of the art facility set up to cater to the aftermarket clutch requirements of its customer base. Approximately 55 Setco employees based out of this facility will be involved in the manufacture of Setco’s new and enhanced, high quality clutch products.

This is a semi-automated assembly line, which will increase Setco’s capacity and productivity in India by 150% thus adding the capability to cater to increasing aftermarket needs consistently.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Harish Sheth, Chairman & Managing Director, Setco Automotive Ltd., said, “We are very excited to have this new facility up and running. Setting up a plant in Uttarakhand was a strategic decision on our part to emphasize our support to our OEM and aftermarket customers. Apart from this because of the benefits offered by the state, our same high quality products will cost less to manufacture, thus allowing us to give more competitive prices to the end user. This will definitely give us a competitive edge in the market. We are committed to the community and are happy to be here.”

Located near Sitarganj, the unit is placed in the rich fertile triad belt, surrounded by lush green fields & forest encompassing wild habitation and is on a 2 acre plot with an investment of Rs. 9 crores. Setco’s new and improved products will be manufactured here to give customers better performance for every rupee spent.”

Further, the setting up of this facility would provide leverage in terms of the reliable supply chain to meet the consumer requirements. The capacities freed at Kalol will be used to produce our new and improved product lines to the OEMs and meet their global requirements. It will also allow us production diversity without losing productivity.

The facility will be commencing production immediately after the inauguration. In the next 5 years it will add more products and capabilities and at least triple its employment creating value added jobs for the local community.

News Source: http://machinist.in

(RTTNews) – Monday, JBM Auto said that the company entered into a joint venture agreement with Ashok Leyland for supply of sheet metal components for their G90 Cab and G-90 FES.

The joint venture company would set up state of art facilities at Pant Nagar, Uttarakhand at an estimated cost of Rs.100 crores and would have large pressing and welding facilities.

JBM Auto would hold 74% and Ashok Leyland would hold the rest in the joint venture that would start commercial operations from 2010.

News Source: http://www.rttnews.com

Pune: The first two test units of the Nano have just rolled out from a new assembly line at Tata Motors’ Uttarakhand plant that is now nearly ready, suggesting that commercial production of the small car will actually begin at Pantnagar nearly a month before it begins at Singur.

These are the first units of the small car to be actually made on the assembly line as against R&D prototypes that were showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo earlier this January. According to a source, some 70 more such test vehicles will be produced to test the assembly line that is being installed at a cost of around Rs 300 crore and is now around 80 per cent complete.

Testing drill

The cars will be subjected to extensive testing before trial production will begin, to be followed by commercial production by September, he said, adding that at full ramped up capacity the plant can produce 60,000 cars a year.

Responding to a question on this, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, “As stated earlier, there will be satellite plants for the car, locations of which will be announced in due course.”

He also said, “Tata Motors has always said that it is setting up the first plant for the Tata Nano at Singur in West Bengal, and the Nano will be rolled out from Singur. As per our timeline at present, trial production at Singur will start in June-July, when equipment will get tested out, and commercial production will start around October.”

Pantnagar plant

Currently, the Pantnagar plant produces some 700-800 vehicles on the Ace platform per day, including the people carrier ‘Magic’. The CNG variant of the Ace is also due soon. The Ace is also produced at Pune, but in smaller numbers, and its production is slated to be moved out from here entirely over the next few months.

News Source: http://sify.com

Even as the two-wheeler industry is facing a major slowdown in sales, Hero Honda has started a new plant at Haridwar in Uttaranchal with an initial investment of Rs450 crore.

The plant, its third in the country, will manufacture between 5 and 7 lakh two-wheelers which can be scaled up to 10 lakh units by the year end.

The bike major, which sold more than 3.03 million units in FY08, has increased its market share in the period to 52% from 49% in the previous financial year.

The plant in Haridwar will be used to manufacture Hero Honda’s Splendor Plus and Passion range of motorcycles and other high volume, high margin offerings.

Hero Honda had completed the construction of the plant last year but delayed the operations to avail itself of the full ten-year tax holiday from the Uttarakhand Government.

News Source: http://www.livemint.com

BS reported that several auto ancillaries units are setting up shop near TATA Motors’ plant at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.

As per report, TATA Motors is starting its new Ace manufacturing facility, spread over 1000 acres, at an investment of INR 1000 crore.

The facility would house nearly 75 ancillaries, out of which nearly 63 have already been given industrial plots. The ancillaries would set up their units in Pantnagar at a total investment of more than INR 800 crore.

There are expectations that TATA Motors might start something big besides manufacturing Ace. Officials do not rule out the possibility that some parts of Nano may be produced in Pantnagar.

News Source: http://steelguru.com

Tata Motors plans to shift the full production of its mini truck, Ace, and the passenger carrier variant of the vehicle, Magic, to Uttarakhand by next year.

“Currently, Ace and Magic are being produced from both Pune and Uttarakhand but the idea is to shift the total production to the Uttarakhand unit,” Tata Motors’ Vice-President, Sales and Marketing (Commercial Vehicles), Ravi Pisharody, told newspersons here.

He said that the shift in production would commence by the middle of next year.

Focus on light vehicles

Pisharody said once the total production of Ace and Magic shifts to Uttarakhand, the Pune plant would fully focus on other light commercial vehicles.

“We are expecting to utilise the full capacity of the Uttarakhand plant by the end of the next year,” Pisharody added.

Tata Motors’ Uttarakhand plant has a production capacity of 2.25 lakh units per annum and the company made an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in setting up the facility.

Meanwhile, the company, on Saturday, launched its six-seater rural transportation vehicle ‘Magic’, priced at Rs 2.68 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), and 9-13 seater maxicab ‘Winger’ (Rs 4.67 lakh to Rs 6.67 lakh ex-showroom Delhi) in the North.

He said initially the company was targeting about 22-30 per cent of the light commercial bus market, which currently has a volume of about 35,000 units per year, with Winger.

“Gradually, as we progress, we are looking at about 15,000 units of Winger a year,” he said, declining to project any figures for Magic.

News Source: http://sify.com

The Uttarakhand government has cleared a proposal of Ashok Leyland for the expansion at Pantnagar industrial estate on a priority basis.

In its plan submitted to State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand (SIDCUL) Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of Hinduja Group, had said it was interested in buying another 17 acres Pantnagar industrial estate where it is setting up a manufacturing facility with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore at 175 acres.

“We have cleared the proposal,” said S P Tripathi, general manager, SIDCUL.

The company would now double its investment to Rs 2,000 crore from Rs 1,000 crore, said the SIDCUL officials.

Ashok Leyland is also planning to produce commercial vehicles and engine parts. The company would be manufacturing 40,000 vehicles a year and promises to give employment to 2,200 largely from Uttarakhand.

Earlier, the company had bought land from the state government at the rate of Rs 1,500 a sq mt. And now for 17 acres, the SIDUCL sold the land at Rs 2,500 a sq mt, the sources said.

The Hindujas Group has recently put up its expansion proposal before Chief Minister B C Khanduri, who promptly gave the green signal.

Besides Ashok Leyland, a slew of auto industries are setting up their new units in Uttarakhand to take the benefits of the tax holiday scheme announced by the Centre in 2003. Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda and Mahindra and Mahindra are among some of the top companies, which are setting up their facilities in the state.

Hero Honda was among the first auto companies to enter Haridwar, where it is setting up a new unit with an investment of Rs 1,200 crore. The company has bought 275 acres for the facility.

Tata Motors along with its ancillaries is investing Rs 1,859 crore at its manufacturing facility in Pantnagar industrial estate. The company would be producing its Ace trucks for which it has already bought 1,000 acres.

Bajaj Auto is also investing Rs 500-600 crore to set up a manufacturing unit for producing motorbikes in Pantnagar.

News Source: http://www.business-standard.com

BS reported that Ashok Leyland has decided to double investment in Uttaranchal from the INR 1,000 crore to INR 2,000 crore as a part of its expansion plan.

Ashok Leyland is likely to buy another 17 acres at Pant Nagar for a manufacturing facility at an investment of INR 1,000 crore. It has already bought 175 acres at Pant Nagar for manufacturing commercial vehicles and engine parts. It has also promised to provide employment to 2,200 persons, mostly locals.

Many auto manufacturers are setting up new facilities in Uttarakhand to avail of tax benefits announced by the centre in 2003.

1. Hero Honda – INR 1,200 crore plant in Haridwar
2. TATA Motors – INR 1,859 crore in Pantnagar
3. Bajaj Auto – INR 500 to INR 600 crore at Pantnagar

News Source: http://steelguru.com