Nano is beautiful

It’s a small car that’s carrying a big burden. As Ratan Tata announced and unveiled a concept that the world’s business press had been waiting for, global automakers had been afraid of, and governments in three continents had been inviting, he was, for a change, batting on the front foot. An aggression unseen so far in his generally humble and soft demeanour could be felt in his still humble and soft words. Over breakfast, speaking on behalf of Nano, his four-year, Rs 1 lakh dream, it wasn’t a defensive Tata any more. With less than three hours’ sleep behind him, it was an unusually forceful Tata.

Having lived with and carted the burden of pollution, congestion and safety for the last three years, which has gained weight over the past six months, when Tata finally spoke, he reflected not only the celebration of an India that’s still grappling with and coming to terms with its own economic success, but underlined the myopia of cynics turned critics. He also noted how, if the pollution-congestion-safety troika was dying down, a new one was being born — rising fossil fuel consumption, a high import bill impacting the Indian economy and even the petro economy. The romantic dreamer wearing a business suit wondered out aloud and in public, just how and why so many people have had so many reasons to give on why Tata’s Rs 1 lakh small car should not be in the market.

The market. For neo-Luddites who, while benefiting from the market have conveniently forgotten its rules, the market is an arena where gladiators of today fight for space in the minds and wallets of consumers. An amphitheatre where entrepreneurs put together ideas, money, men and material to create products. Like in any other industry, in the arena of automobiles, there are rules that define the game. As long as gladiators play by the rules, they can create any product they like. Nano, for instance. It is Euro 4 compliant, a generation ahead of its time, which means it’s less polluting than the next car. It has taken safety tests that many existing cars haven’t and cleared them, which means it’s safer.

And as far as congestion on the road goes, it’s simply not Tata’s business. India’s roads have been clogged for many years now. That governments across states and the Centre could not plan for the prosperity that would hit them between the eyes in just four years was not surprising. Work on roads — highways, expressways and intra-city networks — has begun and going forward should clear the mess. But to say that Nano will clog roads, and not any other car, bike, bus or truck, is giving Nano too much and unnecessary importance.

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