Tata Motors' Ace to get a mega facility

Tata Motors has planned an eventual capacity of 225,000 units of its mini truck, Tata Ace, at the company's new plant coming up at Pantnagar in Uttaranchal.

Combined with Tata Motors' existing capacity of 60,000 units a year at Pune, this will peg its total capacity to produce Tata Ace at a stupendous 80 per cent of the annual commercial vehicle sales of 350,000 in the country at present.

While the company declined to comment, component makers confirmed that request for quotations placed with them indicated a requirement of parts to fit 225,000 units a year at the Pantnagar plant. The plant is scheduled to start production by the end of the current financial year.

According to Uttaranchal government officials, investment to the tune of Rs 2,000-2,500 crore could be made by Tata Motors at its new plant, where it might also produce its Rs 1 lakh car.

The company is yet to make any formal announcement on its proposed plant in Pantnagar, though it has talked about its plans to invest Rs 350 crore in Lucknow and Rs 1,000 crore in West Bengal for manufacturing the Rs 1 lakh car.

Tata Ace, a sub-one-tonne truck, was launched a year ago and the company announced an increase in its capacity to 60,000 units a year within six months of its launch.

The success of the vehicle, which piggy-backs the emerging hub-and-spoke model of transportation, has also inspired new entrants to this segment.