Where is the infrastructure !

There is lot of hype surrounding the 1 lakh car of Tata. Though it is still not clear what is that 1 lakh all about, will it be the cost price, the exfactory price or the showroom price. A lot of 150 CC bikes come for Rs 50 K and to think of the car to retail at that price would be foolish. There are other concern of safety , space etc. Last heard was that the government of India is planning to give tax concessions to Tata’s for them to achieve that price. At the outset what one of the most respected group has set out is a very noble intention of giving the car to the masses, the first and the most obvious question that pops up is where is the infrastructure to take up the load. The economy is booming leaving a lot of surplus cash in the hands of the masses which can be an obvious trigger. The urbanization of Indian cities has led to un planned growth resulting in bottlenecks in key parts of the cities.

Most of the Indian cities are choc a block as the infrastructure development is reactive and pro-active. For an example once there a regular jam at a particular junction or a stretch the administration will suddenly wake up to either build a flyover or more conveniently make it a one way. All of the solutions are short term. There is no concept of capacity planning at all. The bigger worry is the parking space, any one who has being to Delhi will observe the row of cars stationed outside the homes and on roads. There is absolutely no space to park. Its a privilege to get parking space in the shopping malls, central business districts, public places etc. Bangalore roads are a nightmare the infrastructure is crumbling and there is no political will to make that dramatic change

A seemingly innocuous question is where will the folks keep the car and on which roads will they drive. Most of the new apartment complexes coming up are already full with obscene amounts being charged by the builders.

This is my sound pseudo socialist but the government should stop this project in the national interest further the Tata’s have not displayed any inclination to go for a cleaner technology so definitely there will be environmental damage as well. The current boom in expensive cars has clearly displayed the customer’s preference of quality over price as otherwise there was no reason for Maruti 800’s decline.