Tata Nano: Pride and Joy

The Tata Nano might be the world's cheapest car but there was nothing cut-price about its launch.

After weeks of anticipation and a morning of wall-to-wall build-up on local television networks, which covered the event live, India's "people's car" rolled on stage to the epic strains of Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra, with Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Motors, at the wheel.

You could almost hear the cheer going up across India - and you couldn't hear yourself think in the auditorium - as waiting journalists, members of the public and the minister of commerce, Kamal Nath, broke into spontaneous and euphoric applause.

Tata (below), suave and 70, appeared to have a lump in his throat as he announced the realisation of a dream that has taken more than four years and 500 engineers to bring to reality.

This was more than just the launch of a car, he said: it was the jumping-off point for an ideal that its designers hope will revolutionise the lives of millions of Indians, most of whom live in rural areas many miles from the nearest bus stop.

A hologram of an Indian family four-up on a motorbike - a familiar sight in the country - reminded the audience that while the Nano might not have airbags and European safety certificates, it's a good deal safer than a two-wheeler.

Mr Tata spoke with feeling: "I observed families riding on two-wheelers - the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It led me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.

"Today, we indeed have a people's car, which is affordable and yet built to meet safety requirements, to be fuel-efficient and low on emissions." Tata's security men pleaded in vain for people not to scratch the car as enthusiasm swept away the choreographed launch ceremony and more than 1,000 delegates and journalists fought for a glimpse of the new machine.

And for Indians in the audience, the launch of Tata's wonder-car was an emphatic, jubilant statement to the world of what India is capable of delivering.