The road ahead just isn?t getting better for Tata Motors. After the ongoing stalemate over its small car plant in Singur, the company?s world truck project, which was to begin production here from October, has been postponed by two to three months. Here too, the availability of land is playing the spoilsport.

The auto major has been looking for land for development of a vendor park for all the models to be rolled out from here. The move would enhance its cost-competitiveness.

However, the company?s application for an additional 300 acres for expansion has been pending with the Jharkhand government for the last one year with little progress having been made.

?We (Tata Motors) are ready for it and would have rolled out the world truck this October itself but have problems with our suppliers like Caparo, which supplies several sheet metal components, including those of pigment items,? said SB Borwankar, plant head, Jamshedpur.

With a strong road infrastructure in the country, Tata Motors is set to replace its existing range of 100-180 horsepower heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs) with GenNext international standard world trucks mounted with 200-500 hp engines.

Tata Motors?s world truck concept is an attempt to match world-class heavy-duty trucks being produced by Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, MAN and others at globally competitive prices.

?It now seems that the project is running behind schedule by two to three months,? said Borwankar. It is difficult to predict the exact quantum of delay at present, he added.

With gearbox and axles coming from Tata Motors? subsidiaries, HV Transmission and HV Axles, respectively, most other aggregates and components going into the world truck are to be procured from local vendors here.

Tata Cummins, a 50:50 joint venture of Tata Motors and US-based Cummins Inc, is to supply the latest technology engines of up to 285 hp capacity while the higher range of engines, between 300-500 hp, are to be supplied by Cummins India. The engines are to conform to Euro III & Euro IV emission norms, even though Euro III becomes mandatory in India only in 2010.

According to Borwankar, while the auto major would not be targeting the world trucks separately for the domestic and global markets, there would nevertheless be truck categories such as economy, deluxe, AC/non-AC etc, to suit buyers.

Apart from procuring parts and components from local vendors, the company has also to depend on supplies from manufactures from places like Pune, Delhi, Punjab, etc.