Ex-Singur Nano staff drive in to Pantnagar

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Even before Tata Motors’ chairman Ratan N Tata announced the shifting of the Nano project from Singur, key employees related to the project were shifted as early as the first week of September to the company’s Pune and Pantnagar plants. They are now busy working on production of the Nano from these facilities to meet the proposed deadline, sources say. A few of the employees are also undertaking training on the Nano project at the company’s Jamshepur plant. The company had employed 1,000 employees (white and blue collared) at Singur.

When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, “We stick to what we said on September 2 when the company announced the suspension of the work at Singur and that is - to minimise the impact this may have on the recently recruited and trained people from West Bengal, the company is exploring the possibility of absorbing them at its other plant locations.” He did not divulge more details.

According to sources, the immediate target is to attain 100 Nanos per day from these facilities together. “The car will be rolled out the day we hit the 100 Nanos per day production figure,” said a person close to the development. The company plans to launch Nano during the last quarter of this year, starting October. The strategy, which was the company's Plan B, will see different parts of the car coming out of Pune, and then assembled into the final product at Pantnagar. “The two plants are working in tandem. While parts are being made at the Pune plant, the final product will roll out from Pantnagar,” sources said. The company always had a set up ready at the Pantnagar for the small car, which citing the current situation, has attained great importance and will have to be expanded further, sources added.

“The assembly facility for the Nano at Pantnagar cannot produce more than 300 cars per day. The company will look at expanding the assembly unit till the time the site for the mother plant is identified and work starts from there. This is also to meet the expected huge demand for the car,” sources said. At Singur, the company was looking at 1,200 cars per day.