Tata gets 45 acres at Pantnagar for Nano

Tata Motors' plans to roll out the first of its Rs 1-lakh (Rs 100,000) small car, the Nano, from Uttarakhand, 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. 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.