IT WOULD appear that booking procedures for the much anticipated, and delayed, Tata Nano are shrouded in a secrecy that the company is keen to maintain until the car launches on Monday. The Internet is abuzz with news that bookings will open on the day of the launch, while other sources believe it will have to wait till the second week of April.

Even Tata dealerships across the country seem a bit confused, answering queries in startlingly varied ways.

A trickle of information from Chennai says all four dealerships in the city will be receiving cars for display on March 25. However, there is no word on when bookings will open, though this is expected to be some time between the first and second week of April.

In Mumbai, despite it being the city where the car will be finally launched, the dealers claim they have been told nothing and even worse, know nothing. A dealership in New Delhi claims that while they will only receive the application forms on April 1, in Pune and other cities in Maharashtra forms will be available from March 23.

It would appear then that Tata Motors has a uniquely trusting and forthcoming relationship with its dealers in the national capital, or while letting them in on the secret someone forgot to mention to the dealers that it was in fact to be kept a secret too.

Application forms will be available in the first round of bookings for a limited window of just one week. They will have to be submitted within this window along with a demand draft of Rs 70,000 made out in favour of Tata Motors.

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