Tata Motors said Thursday it has been offered another site in India for its factory to mass produce the world's cheapest car after protests over land dogged another location. Company officials met with the chief minister of the southern hi-tech state of Karnataka and were offered 1,000 acres (400 hectares) "with all facilities" to manufacture the Nano, a Tata official told AFP.
"We are obviously happy," the Tata spokesperson said, but added no decision had been made on whether the auto giant would abandon its nearly-completed plant in West Bengal state. Tata has poured 350 million dollars into the West Bengal plant, but it cannot complete the project and begin production due to violent protests by the state opposition party and farmers who say their land was stolen.
Efforts to resolve the stand-off have so far failed, with protesters rejecting a government rehabilitation package and an offer to return some of the land. The Tata official said 13 other Indian states were also offering land for the factory. Tata Motors had said it hoped to launch the Nano in October in time for the big-spending Hindu festival season. The company wants to sell the car for 100,000 rupees (2,150 dollars). Shifting the plant would delay any mass rollout for months.