The NANO has been driven out of Singun Announcing this in Kolkata on Friday, Ratan Tata blamed Mamata Banerjee directly and his business rivals obliquely for the pullout, adding that there has been no decision on the plant's new address.

The first casualty: Nano may not make it to Indian roads in 2008. "There is an interim plan to produce the car at existing locations and launch it but even that looks diacult between October-December this year," said an officia1close to the issue on condition of anonymity Earlier, a visibly upset Tata said, "We have to take this regretful decision to move Nano out of West Bengal with great sadness. We faced great agitation from the opposition and that is the sole reason for moving out. We cannot run a plant with police protection, with bombs being thrown, walls broken or people intimidated." "It is a corporate decision," said Mamata Banerjee, adding that Ratan Tata's decision smells of a "joint game plan of the state government and the Tatas. The Tatas are trying to blame us, which seems politically motivated." Nano, meanwhile, has moved on. Its new address could now either be Karnataka, Maharash- 11'21 (W Cr U 211'21t . "We have not decided where to shift but there are offers from three or four states," Tata said. "We have a timeline and we have made promises to the public." "For the mother plant, it is a toss up between Karnataka and Gujarat and it has to be a coastal state for the sake of exports," the unidentified official added.

Vendors have been supplying material to Pune and Pantnagar, locations where batches of the car are reportedly being assembled.