Tata Nano: Innovation for Progress?

Delhi’s Success Story

I generally blog about anecdotal incidents or sports but I’ve decided to write on something more serious this time. To set the tone for the post, I’ve been really impressed with the development of public transport in Delhi over the last few years. The Metro, a bus fleet running on CNG and the introduction of modern low floor buses (which will completely replace the existing pack by 2010) has given the Clean Delhi Green Delhi campaign a necessary impetus from the government. Over the last five years Delhi has actually become cleaner and greener; the road congestion has eased up significantly (though there is still a long way to go) and the air is breathable again. So why has Delhi shown signs of improvement when every other metro in India has continued its fall into the ceaseless abyss of degradation? The answer is simple: if the public transport system of a city is good enough, people use their own vehicles less and less. This means less traffic, less pollution and more money for the government to reinvest in public transport. Let me prove my point, India has very few cars per person in comparison to London, yet the latter has cleaner air because people use the public transports much more than their cars.

Subsidizing

So at a time when the government should be following the Delhi model earnestly all over India, The Left in West Bengal decided to offer enormous subsidies, starting with ridiculously cheap land in Singur, to one of India’s most influential business families for building the Nano. Subsidies mean lesser money for the government to improve public transport. The reason I keep harping about public transport like a broken record is because cars in India take up more than 75% of road space and move less than 20% people. A comprehensive study hasn’t been conducted on the corresponding emission ratio but it is well known that the particulate matter released per person carried by cars is way higher than public transports.

The Tata Nano

When the Nano was under development the rumor mill suggested a car without a roof, a body of plastic and curtains for doors! People at the launch Expos actually tapped on the Nano to make sure that is was made of metal :) . To give credit where it’s due, the Tatas have given us a real vehicle, not a matchbox with a motor, which meets all quality standards of small passenger cars. The final design stands at 1,322 pounds, has a 623cc engine housed in the rear (which gives extra leg room), an advertised fuel economy of almost 21Kms/Liter (to put things in context that is almost as much as Ajit’s 2 year old Karizma), a top speed of 105 Kmph, a fuel tank that holds about 14.75 Liters and meets Euro IV emission standards. Its exterior is 8% smaller and its interior is 21% roomier than the Maruti 800. To sum up, the Nano is a car that takes up least space, has the lowest emissions and the highest fuel economy. Wait a minute… how come I’ve gotten so pro-Nano all of a sudden, did the Tatas get wind of my blog and bribe me to change my opinion. Sorry, got caught up in a day dream, the Nano is undoubtedly a miracle of engineering but India is just not ready for it! Read on…

The Problem

The Tatas address the problems related to the Nano by suggesting that if Nanos were to replace all of its more polluting counterparts on Indian roads, the traffic congestion would ease up and the air quality would improve. Despite skirting the issue with trademark business acumen the Tatas won’t even be able to convince air-borne bacteria that there are no problems whatsoever. True, if every other private vehicle in India was replaced with a Nano this would indeed be the case but a Nano won’t just replace it would add a torrent of cars to Indian roads.

Middle class household incomes in India start at roughly $6000 per annum and so the affordability of the Nano is likely to create millions of new drivers. According to the Mumbai based credit rating agency Crisil, 8 million Indians currently own cars and 18 million Indians have the means to buy one. Once the Nano is launched it will increase the potential pool of new drivers 65% from 18 million to 30 million. People who could never dream of buying a car will now start saving every rupee for the Nano, those who could earlier afford one will now be able to buy 2, entrepreneurs will invest in fleets… to the common man this might be a dream come true, to them the Nano means independence, enhanced social status and greater mobility. But as a substantial fraction of Indians rejoice at the thought of owning a Nano, those with more foresight are treading with extreme caution. Nobel Prize winner R.K Pachauri has already admitted to having nightmares about the Nano. The fact of the matter is that low emission isn’t the same as no emission. "The car itself is fuel efficient, but the city (Bangalore) is already at emergency levels in terms of air and noise pollution," says Leo Saldanha, director of the Bangalore-based Environmental Support Group. The situation across other Indian cities is not much better and a deluge of Nanos will choke the last remaining packets of green space. Pollution isn’t the only major problem. Indian roads at the moment are simply not ready to sustain the Nano. Imagine going to Godowlia in the evening after Nanos hit Banaras. It’s not that we can build too many more roads to help ease the congestion. 20% of Delhi is already covered in roads and with the ever increasing population there’s hardly any space left.

Nano Isn’t the only Car to Worry About!

The imminent launch of the Nano has sprung several of Tata Motors’ rivals into action. Hyundai has already announced plans for a $3,700 car. Renault-Nissan has teamed up with Bajaj to put 400,000 of its own ultra-low-cost cars on the road by 2011. General Motors is rumored to be working on a Nano-killer with China's Wuling Automotive.

For me the Nano is a very clear presage of catastrophe a decade hence!