Tata Nano Production Delayed Due To Protests
Tata should count itself lucky. Protest in India was once deadlier.
By Gunnar Heinrich
CHANGE comes slowly and often with adversity.
Or in the case of economic reform in India, as slowly as a 25 year old Jag accelerating on three cylinders and every bit as adverse to the notion of advancing forward.
Trouble is that the country’s industrial progress continues to see many road blocks; thousands in fact.
A good read in the New York Times pointed to the fact that thousands of Indian “peasants” have taken to blocking certain highways surrounding a Tata Motors plant in Singur in protest of the proposed development of their agricultural lands.
In what’s sure to play out with all the melodrama of a Bollywood li’l-man-confronts-high ‘n mighty-bad-guy flick, this story is a likely set back to the Indian auto industry. It’s an industry (and co.) which – fresh off of capturing the crown jewels Jaguar and Land Rover – was about to bring forth the world’s cheapest and cheeriest – the $2,500 Tata Nano.
Not yet, said the rural folk. Production ground to a halt in face of the recent peaceful but prolific protests.
About the Author: Gunnar Heinrich is publisher of Automobiles De Luxe online and is executive producer of the Automobiles De Luxe Television series on PBS member station CPTV.
