Tara Tiny joins Nano Race with 1-lakh tag

Tara Tiny, a car which could give the Nano a run for its money, is all set to become the world's cheapest car, reports The Economic Times.

It's a battery-operated green car, which will cost just around 50-70 paise for every km, making it a probably tough competitor to Nano. Tara International, an arm of the Bengal Enamel, is the manufacturer of the car with a cheeky Rs 99,999 price tag. Tara has teamed up with China's $1.5-billion Aucma, a leading player in the electrical vehicles and appliances segment, to source components for this dream car.

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Going by plans, the four-seater Tiny should roll out in the next four to five months. In step, the company targets to unveil three other electric car labels which will be branded as Tara Titu, Tara Micro and Tara Mini.

"At the moment, we have decided on brand names for only the cars. Together with the cars, there are also buses on the anvil. Initially, 60 to 70 percent of the components will be imported in CKD condition from China's Aucma. While 30 to 40 percent of the parts are going to be locally produced," said Tara Shankar Ganguly, Group Chairman. He was speaking on the sidelines of the three-day Environment Partnership Summit organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce from Thursday.

The price tags of the four-wheelers should hover between Rs 99,999 and Rs 5.5 lakh. "This is the ex-showroom price to which VAT and other taxes will be added. The four-wheelers are slated to be totally indigenised in two years," Ganguly said. Tara International's facility is located at Palta near Kolkata.

The company will also introduce battery-operated two-wheelers, which will be completely indigenous, Ganguly said. The third stage of the project will find three-wheelers like auto-rickshaws.

"The operating cost of the battery-operated vehicles, pegged at 40 to 70 paise for every km, is one-fifth to one-tenth the expenses that fuel transportation entails," Ganguly said. The four-wheelers are expected to travel at a speed of 50 to 70 km an hour.

The three-wheelers will see existing fossil fuel vehicles being converted into electrical units. "While the two-wheelers are in the range of Rs 9,999 to Rs 30,000, the three-wheelers are aimed in the bracket of Rs 85,000 to Rs 1.8 lakh," Biswajit Das, Vice-President of the projects, said.

Bengal Enamel was set up by Colonel Dwijendra Bhattacharya in 1921 with an aim to manufacture enameled ware, plates, mugs and water bottles for households and the army. But it was Bhattacharya's grandson Tara S Ganguly who conjured up an auto project 90 years down the road.