Kolkata/New Delhi/Chennai, Aug. 22 About 20 of the 56 suppliers for Tata Motors’ Nano, who have been allotted land at Singur, have started construction of their plants at the suppliers’ park , some of them in advanced stages of completion.
The others will put up their plants in due course, according to industry sources in the know.
These 20 suppliers have to be ready to supply parts to Nano right from the first day, according to the sources.
Those who have been allotted space in the suppliers’ park include some Tata group joint venture companies such as Tata Ryerson, Tata Johnson, Tata Auto Plastic and others including JBM, Caparo, Rasandik, Lumax and Sona Koyo Steering.
Contacted shortly after Mr Ratan Tata’s press conference, when the Tata group Chairman said Tata Motors would not hesitate to pull out of Singur if violence against the company continued, some of the suppliers said they would have no choice but to also move out of Singur if Tata Motors shifted its plant .
The ancillary units at the Tata Nano factory will have to be pulled out in case Tata Motors chose to pull out from Singur, said Mr Sandipan Chakravorty, Managing Director, Tata Ryerson Ltd.
Tata Ryerson is in final stages of setting up its unit at the vendor park in Singur, Mr. Chakravorty said. The unit will supply six crucial components to Nano, including the chassis for the car.
“The ancillary units cannot survive without the parent plant and if Tata Motors pulls out from the project, all proposed ancillary units at the factory would also have to be removed,” he told Business Line. The whole issue now depends upon political consensus and whether the people of this State want the project to materialise, he added.
Asked if the ancillary units were planned to be set up initially along with the main factory, Mr. Chakravorty said, “All the ancillary units are an integral part of the Tata’s small car project and plans for the units had been laid at the very outset.”
The Trinamool Congress leader, Ms Mamata Bannerjee, recently claimed that the ancillary units were not a part of the small car project and, therefore, could be shifted elsewhere and the land allotted to the units be returned to the ‘unwilling’ farmers.
As regards progress at Tata Ryerson’s component factory, Mr. Chakravorty said, “95 per cent of work at the unit is complete and we are waiting for the machines to be installed soon.” The unit would be ready for operation from middle of September, he added.
Most of the suppliers said they have capacity at their existing plants to support the launch of Nano from alternative destinations such as Pantnagar in Uttarakhand where Tata Motors has a manufacturing facility. The company could consider rolling out the Nano from its Pantnagar plant initially. The suppliers are confident that commercial production of the Nano will begin as scheduled in the festive season of October.
A number of auto component companies such as Sona Koyo Steering System, engine parts maker Amtek Auto, automotive lighting company Lumax, Aurangabad-based Endurance group, Avtec and Kinectic Engineering have announced their plans to set up dedicated plants to cater to Nano.
While many of these companies have acquired the land entailing an investment of Rs 30-40 crore, they are yet to start the construction of the plant.
“We have already acquired the land and are in the process of constructing the plant. We are also prepared to meet supplies as per the schedule. Whether we will move out from Singur or not will depend on what Mr Ratan Tata says as they are our customers. We will go wherever they ask us to supply from," said Mr Deepak Jain, Executive Director, Lumax Industries.
Officials from various companies declined to give specific comments considering the sensitivity of the matter. However, most of them indicated that Tata Motors had not given any notification to them on delaying the production.
Vendors whom Business Line spoke said that Tata Motors had started procuring engine parts for Nano and production for those parts had begun in Singur. Supplies for other casting components from Uttarakhand were also likely to begin shortly.
A Maharastra based component company also said that its Singur facility may take some more time to start supplies for Nano. “However, from our Pantnagar facility supplies would start very soon."
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