India and Tata to build Nano factory in Burma By: BangkokPost.com Published: 29/03/2009 at 02:59 AM
New Delhi - India's top truck and bus maker, Tata Motors, is looking to set up a truck manufacturing plant in Burma with support from the Indian government in the form of financial participation.
Priced at about 79,000 baht new, the four-passenger Nano is reportedly the world's cheapest car.
Press reports in India said on Saturday that it would be the first foray by an Indian automobile company in the military-controlled country.
This new plant will be the third to be operated by Tata Motors in the Asian region. In addition to a plant in Korea, the firm signed a joint venture with Thonburi Automobiles to set up a pick-up manufacturing plant in Thailand in December 2007.
The reports did not speculate on the effect on Thailand of any Tata decision to set up shop in Burma.
According to the state-run newspaper, New Light of Myanmar, officials from Tata Motors met the Burmese minister of energy, Vice-Admiral Soe Thein, on Thursday in Burma to discuss the feasibility of setting up a heavy truck assembly plant there.
The truck project is a part of India’s "Look East" policy, which tries to improve economic cooperation with Asean countries.
For the project, the Indian government will sanction a line of credit of $20 million which would be used in putting up a heavy turbo truck assembly plant in Burma in addition to a component parts production factory by Tata Motors.
Although the details regarding the capacity of the plant were not divulged, the facility is scheduled to become operational by December this year. Tata has made no official statement on its plans.
Analysts believe that the project will provide a fillip to the ailing commercial vehicle business of Tata Motors, which accounts for almost half of the company’s revenues.
Commercial vehicle demand from the domestic Indian market is expected to remain flat or even shrink in coming months, Saturday's press reports said.
Tata Motors posted its biggest loss in seven years for the final quarter of last year. The company was forced to shut a few of its manufacturing plants to get rid of its excess inventory and align production with demand.
i think laos goverment need get idea how gonna build steel factory first and build car factory than sell cheap to the laos peoples ! open tour for tourists get good security for them and onething no other peoples love lao like lao and lao ,it deos't matter where we are right now shaking hand brother
We are landlock country, that is why big companie do not come to lao? what a funny strage idea!. You better look at the world corruption ranking, and business performance of each country. Easy just google and you see where is lao standing.
The geographic proximity to India can't be discounted.
We know they aren't there to sell cars in Burma, to get to Laos it's a long way around, and they'd be importing the steel also. no steel mills in Burma. Also steel mills aren't things you just start up, we're talking hundreds of millions US. And the electricity, and roads and trucks.
But most of all it's the English speaking semi skilled workers, Burma has lots, Laos not so many.
I bet the Korean, Chinese, Thai, Viet, and Japanese have exclusive deal with Laos over any other investors when come to business.
The polluted came from the old tuk-tuk and motorcyle. Some gas/petro station mixed their stuff with some other cheap fuel result in more smoke and polution. Drive or ride around anywhere in Laos you will know.
