Tata gets 45 acres at Pantnagar for Nano

Tata Motors' [ Get Quote ] plans to roll out the first of its Rs 1-lakh (Rs 100,000) small car, the Nano [ Images ], from Uttarakhand [ Images ], were boosted today after a high-powered state government committee under Chief Minister B C Khanduri allotted it nearly 45 acres of land to expand  the Pantnagar unit.

"We have given Tata Motors preference because it wants to roll out the first Nano from Uttarakhand," a government official said.

Tata Motors' December launch of the Nano was delayed after political problems forced it out of Singur, West Bengal [ Images ]. It has since relocated the mother plant to Gujarat but planned to fast-track the launch by rolling out some Nanos from Pantnagar by the end of the fiscal year.

Company officials said the Pantnagar facilities can turn out 50,000 cars a year. The company has also conducted test-runs of Nano protypes at Pantnagar in the past few months.