TATA’S DREAM CAR PLANT LOCATION- CASE STUDY

1) West Bengal is the state which is currently undergoing the industrialization drive.

The state offered the Tata’s many subsidies and sops unlike the Karnataka state

government did. The main reason behind selecting Singur as the plant rather than

Dharwad and Uttranchal because Nano being targeted as the cheapest car which

Tata’s wanted to introduce in the market to the targeted middle class customers

with a target price of one lakh rupees, cost of plant and logistics play a very vital

decision in these context. Even though the West Bengal government offered six

different places but the company found Singur the most suitable because it had

the advantage of geographic location. Singur is about 50 km north-west of

Kolkata. The company was also taking into consideration about the social

infrastructure such as proximity to educational institutions for the children of its

employees and Singur land was very closely located to the National Highway – 2,

connecting Kolkata with Delhi. Thus Tata’s preferred to locate their “dream car”

plant at Singur, West Bengal over other locations such as Dharwad and

Uttaranchal.

2) Ratan Tata being a great visionary wanted to roll out its “dream car- TATA

NANO” world’s cheapest car with a price tag of just Rs. 1,00,000. Since cost was

a major constrain driver, so company wanted to minimize all its extra expenses

and wanted to revolutionize the market with respect to social- economic

dimensions of manufacturing. The company is presently encouraging local

entrepreneurs to invest in the small satellite units which has low break- even

points where the manufacturing and service is provided by these entrepreneurs

only thus in this way they can eliminate the traditional dealer and manufacturer

concept. The Tata have also taken the initiative of Corporate Social Responsibility

with the launch of this car. They wanted to serve the society. Instead of

considering the earlier plants like Pune and Jamshedpur the company wanted to

develop the standard of living of Singur people by providing them with weekly forum

meeting where farmers can meet company executives from these places. They also

plan to replicate some of the programs initiated in Pune and Jamshedpur.

3) The company's Lucknow plant is one of the its youngest production facilities

among all the Tata Motors locations. The plant rolls out commercial vehicles and

is specialized in the designing and manufacturing of a range of buses which

includes low-floor, CNG, RE buses and also specializes in manufacturing high

capacity bus system (HCBS) buses.

Tata Motors Lucknow is one of the youngest production facilities among all the Tata

Motors locations and was established in 1992 to meet the demand for Commercial

Vehicles in the Indian market. The state-of-the-art plant is strongly backed by an

Engineering Research Centre and Service set-up to support with latest technology and

cater to the complexities of automobile manufacturing. Fully Built Vehicle business,

which is one of the fast growing areas of our business, is also established in Lucknow.

Our plant, rolls out commercial vehicles and is specialised in the designing and

manufacturing of a range of modern buses which includes Low-floor, Ultra Low-floor,

CNG & RE Buses.

The Lucknow facility also specialises in manufacturing HCBS (High capacity Bus

System) buses. In light of Company’s aggressive growth plans, we are currently in

expansion phase and production at Lucknow would grow many-fold in near future. The

expansion shall be in the areas of painting, welding, vehicle assembly & testing and

utility services, driven by latest technology. To achieve these plans we invite people who

have good Technical Knowledge, seek Challenging Opportunities and have a Drive for

Engineering Excellence to come and partner us in our journey.

4) Often times, corporate-community relationships are complex and contentious. While

disagreements are bound to occur, there are tools available that can help deal with

differences in a more positive and less costly way.

Dispute Management Systems. Mediation provides a safe and structured environment

for corporate representatives, government officials, and community members to resolve

disputes. Professional “third party” Mediators have expertise in helping parties

understand each other’s concerns. Rather than “decide” the issue, the Mediator helps

everyone analyze the problem and identify solutions to meet their collective interests.

Mediation can be one part of an overall Dispute Management System that proactively

resolves disagreements without involving the courts and media.

Facilitated Dialogue Building. When an issue involves many people with different

interests, it can be difficult to have a productive discussion. In Facilitated Dialogue and

Consensus Building, Facilitators work with the parties to plan and conduct a meeting that

helps everyone understand the issues involved and the different perspectives of the

participants. The group is then better prepared to move forward with collaborative

decision-making and problem solving.

Participatory Project Planning. Beyond outreach and consultation, corporations that

truly want to enlist the support of host communities and governments engage them in

project planning. When community members have an active role in project planning and

decision-making, they are more likely to be invested in project outcomes and behave as

collaborators rather than adversaries.

Community Outreach, Education and Consultation. Many disputes arise because

local communities and government officials lack understanding about the project and

how it will impact their lives. People fear what they do not know. When their fear turns

into frustration and anger, they are more likely to oppose your plans. Community

outreach, education programs and consultations give communities the opportunity to ask

Questions while allowing companies to listen, learn community members’ interests, and

address misunderstandings

SUMMARY OF THE CASE STUDY:

Vision of the great entrepreneur RATAN TATA’s dreams of inventing the world’s

cheapest car has come true with the NANO car. TATA MOTORS LIMITED is

India’s largest automobile company, with revenues of US $21.9 billion in 2005-06

which is equivalent to 2.8 % of the country’s GDP and market capitalization of US

$46.9 billion. Tata dreams to create a car to be sold in the Indian market with a price

tag of one lakh rupees. The company was targeting the burgeoning middle- class

customers by using the low – cost assembly operations. As India has a 70% middle

class family who aims having a car have now come true with the NANO. Due to the

high inflation and the Singur problem they are unable to meet the dream cost of one

lakh rupees. NANO now have been an successful car with 6 different versions and is

trying to cater to the higher mid segment by launching TATA NANO HYBRID

which is to be launched soon.