Tata Motors' Singur plant definitely by next year: Ravi Kant

Kolkata, Mar 15 (UNI) Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant today ruled out any plan to shift the proposed small car manufacturing unit from Singur following sustained protest by a section of local farmers.

''We are not perturbed over any such protest and are working very hard to start the project on time by next year,'' the MD told newspesons on the sidelines of a national seminar on the growth of Indian automobile sector, organised under the banner of the Federation of Automobile Dealers' Associations(FADA) here.

Reiterating that the Rs 1500 crore project on about 998 acres of land at Singur in Hooghly district would be completed 'as per schedule', Mr Ravi Kant said in fact they were 'working very hard' to meet the deadline for starting commercial production by the ''middle of next year''.

Asked whether Tata Motors was facing any obstacles in carrying forward the construction work after overcoming 'teething problems' like opposition from a section of farmers, Mr Ravi Kant hoped that things would continue to move smoothly.

When reminded about his earlier observation that Tata Motors was facing absolutely no problem at Uttarakhand, where the company was setting up its 2,50,000 capacity small truck manufacturing unit, vis-a-vis, the company's Singur project, he said he was not aware of any major hurdles here.

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