Tata Motors suspends work at the Nano small car plant in Singur

India’s leading passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturer Tata Motors on Tuesday evening announced suspension of work at the Nano small car plant at Singur in West Bengal. The decision was taken in view of the ongoing indefinite agitation by the Trinamool Congress since August 24, 2008.

The company is evaluating alternate options to manufacture the Nano at other facilities of the company and a detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site was under consideration.

The company has manufacturing facilities in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, and in Pune, Maharashtra, either of which could be used to produce the Nano, the world’s cheapest car, to meet its October launch deadline, which remains unchanged.

The decision to suspend work on the project was taken after work was stalled for five consecutive days. The project’s auto ancillary partners, who had started work at their respective plants in Singur, were also constrained to suspend work.

Tata Motors had already invested Rs 1,500 crore in the project.