Here's looking at ya, Nano!

Yes, last week was special. Jan 10, 2008 was special. And at the end of the day, I do not care what the Pachauris and Narains have to say.

Yes, global warming is an issue but so is the lack of quality public transport in India. And at the end of the day, innovations cannot be stopped just because some people think that this would be lead of more congestion or a bigger oil bill.

The launch of Tata Nano is perhaps the most anticipated one of the year, perhaps, even the last couple of decades. However, to me it is more than a product launch. It is a victory for a man against all odds. When Maruti Suzuki launched its 800 version at Rs 45,000 and over two decades ago, it had the entire might of the Indian government behind it. Remember, the deal was brokered by none other than the late Sanjay Gandhi, the son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

But here was a man, who was facing flak from environmentalists, competitors and of course, had an entire political party hounding him in their backyard Singur. Yet, he single-handedly took them on (of course, 500 engineers helped) and came out with what could create an entirely new market in the car industry.

Think of the possibilities. Besides, the lower middle class in India, it can be sold in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and even Africa. It is a volumes game that he has to play now. Remember Karsan Bhai Patel’s Nirma, that revolutionized the soaps and detergents market. While the lower middle-lass snapped up the product, even the rich were willing to use it for washing their utensils instead of clothes. Surf suffered!

Similarly, the Nano can do wonders. The rich and upper middle-class will buy the product for their servants to purchase vegetables. Rickshaw owners, who presently buy a Bajaj Auto at Rs 1.2 lakh, can replace it with a Tata Nano…spend a few thousand on getting a LPG engine, and then charge customers at say Rs 10, instead of the present Rs 8. Imagine your driver coming to pick you up in a Nano, drive you to office in your Honda City, drops you back in a latter and goes back in a Nano. Endless opportunities indeed!

As far as costing goes, once the volumes go up, so will the returns. With an initial capacity of 2.5 lakh (250,000) cars a year, upgradeable to 3.5 lakh (350,000) cars a year, I think he will soon have to build more capacities.

However, most importantly, the Nano is going to put pressure, and I mean ‘serious pressure’ on the government to quickly create infrastructure, make the public transport system better and have a proper road policy. And this will only be achieved through public-private partnerships.

For the policy makers there is a word of caution. Remember, all those people hanging out of Mumbai locals and Delhi buses can now afford a car. Earlier, political parties could afford to ignore the car owners as the middle and upper middle class mostly does not vote in India. But now, the vote bank, especially in the bigger cities would be soon be vrooming around their cities in their own cars. That would mean more frustration at the state of roads. And this could easily translate into loss of votes for political parties.

From being just a magnificent innovation, the Nano has the potential to become something much bigger; a thing that will pose questions to the policymaker, force politicians to make decisions that they have deferred till now and most importantly, literally bring the vote bank to roads.

All this would mean quite a bit of action in coming days.

Thank you, Mr Tata, for taking the system out of its slumber.