The much-talked, Rs 1 lakh car from Tata Motors is ready for production and the project is on schedule. The car will be exhibited for the first time to the general public in Auto Expo 2008 in New Delhi.

Expected to be the world's cheapest, the car will be a four-door, four to five seater car featuring a 600cc petrol engine.

Recently, BusinessWeek has named Rs 1 lakh car as one of the trendsetters of 2007, while Ratan Tata has been listed among the world's "Most Important People" of the year.

The BPO cab vendors, taxi operators and tour operators are eagerly awaiting the car. However, the government’s permission will be mandatory to allow commercial use of the Tata Motors Rs 1-lakh car.

Harish Sabarwal, Convener, Federation of Delhi Transport Associations said, “We are expecting the government to allow its commercial use. It could be a big hit in the tourist segment and also for intra-city usage. As the price is lucrative enough, it may create huge employment opportunities.”

Kuldeep Singh, General Secretary of Delhi Taximen Union said, “Tata cars (Indica and Sumo) are cheap to run and affordable to own. They are easy to maintain and highly fuel-efficient, allowing low cost of operations for commercial fleet, unlike fuel-guzzlers, Ambassador and Maruti Esteem. The new micro (Rs 1 lakh) car seems ideal for our operations provided it has enough engine power for our kind of fleet operations.”

Market analysts are expecting that upcoming car might become a huge challenger to auto-rickshaw manufacturers as it would become a cheaper alternative to taxi drivers.

On the other hand, R K Pachauri, who received the Nobel Peace prize this week as chief of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said, "In India roads are not well planned and not made in a proper way. They do not support public transport that much and we are increasingly becoming dependant on cars.”

He further added, "With the coming in of Rs 1 lakh car, I am having nightmares, I don't know what will happen then."

Tata is expected to launch both petrol and diesel edition of this car. The company is scheduled to launch them in the market sometime by the middle of 2008.