The Rs 1 lakh Tata Nano car, set for launch from Singur by the end of this year, may get cheaper in West Bengal with the state government deciding that as it was an ultra low polluting vehicle.
The state felt the Nano would help combat pollution from two-wheelers and three-wheelers which it was expected to replace.
The state is thinking of exempting eco-friendly or low-emission cars from payment of road tax. The plan was recently revealed by Subhas Chakraborty, minister in-charge of transport, West Bengal, at the launch of Kolkata Cab, an air-conditioned radio cab service in the city using Tata Indigo estate cars, in presence of S Krishnan, vice-president-commercial of Tata Motors.
Environmentalists like Sunita Narain and skeptics like by R K Pachauri, head of the UN body on climate change, who also shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice-president Al Gore, had criticized the Nano. In the public eye, though, the Nano was acclaimed as an eco-friendly car.
"The people's car's tailpipe emission performance exceeds regulatory requirements. In terms of overall pollutants, it has a lower pollution level than two-wheelers being manufactured in India today. The high fuel efficiency also ensures that the car has low carbon dioxide emissions, thereby providing the twin benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon footprint," Tata Motors had said recently. Singur was located 40km from Kolkata.
The tax exemption should please Tata Motors.
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The minister also talked about the need to improve the road infrastructure in the city to keep vehicular traffic moving in the coming days. Tender for constructing a 50 km elevated six-lane road, with an investment of Rs 8,000 crore would be opened soon, he said.
The minister quipped that for those who would not be traveling by the Nano, the state transport corporation had ordered 1,000 new buses at the cost of Rs 18-20 lakh each, 400 of which were already on roads.
Some of the new buses were provided by Tata Motors too.