*Shree Cements chief books 1,000 Nanos *
*Subhro Niyogi | TNN * Kolkata: It was Tata group chairman Ratan Tata’s dream to offer a safe personal transport to the middle-class Indian family that led to the evolution of Nano. Indeed, when the car was unveiled, it fired the aspiration among millions for whom cars didn’t even figure in dreams. When bookings for the cars began, they all queued up—from the chauffeur of an executive to the school master at a rural primary school. On Wednesday though, it was one of the richest men who checked in to book the Nano. Industrialist H M Bangur, who steers the Rs 2,000-crore plus Shree Cements, booked 1,000 Nano cars to ‘celebrate’ Earth Day. The booking amount for the 1,000 cars added up to Rs 43 lakh, a sum that is less than the price of either the BMW or Mercedes or Volkswagen or Audi sedan in Bangur’s fleet. The booking amount was financed by a bank. With a draw of lots to decide the allotment, the probability of Bangur landing a few Nano cars is 1,000-times higher than the average aam aadmi who has scraped his savings to book the dream car. Of the 1,000 Nanos Bangur booked, 800 units are CX versions (ex-showroom Rs 1.55 lakh each) and 200 units are LX version (ex-showroom Rs 1.80 lakh each). Shree Cements executive director M K Singhi said the cars allotted would be given to employees and dealers as incentives. Explaining the move, Bangur said: “Shree is an energy-conscious and environment-friendly organisation and is part of several international for propagating green initiatives. On the occasion of Earth Day, we decided to book the environment-friendly and fuel-efficient car to strengthen our green drive.’’ According to Automobile Research Association of India (ARAI), Nano’s emission is pegged at 101 gm/km while it does 23.6 km/litre of petrol. While Shree Cements plants are among the most energy-efficient and profitable in the country with its green initiatives making it eligible for carbon credits under Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism, there are more than simply green considerations in the mass Nano booking drive. Sources said it was a shrewd game plan to draw attention to its Rs 1,000 crore investment in plant expansion at a time when election and weather was upper-most in everyone’s mind. Ad strategists though said it worked to Nano’s advantage as well, grabbing eyeballs for free through unconventional means. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
