The Rediff Interview/Ratan Tata, Chairman, Ravi Kant, MD, Tata Motors

Here are the excerpts from Tata Motors [Get Quote] Chairman Ratan Tata and Managing Director Ravi Kant's press conference ahead of the formal launch of the Nano on Monday evening at the Parsi Gymkhana in Mumbai.

The Rs 1 lakh price option will be available for only the first 100,000 cars. Wouldn't that be a disappointment for customers?

Tata: I can only say no car manufacturer would commit a price to any volume. We have. It's neither a gimmick nor an ego trip.

When do you think the Nano will break even?

Tata: All I can say at the moment is that the project is highly profitable. After all, I am not doing it for philanthropy.

Now that you have finally launched, what's next?

Tata: We have no further innovation to speak about at this time. I hope my colleagues will continue to innovate new products when I am no longer there.

You drove the car yourself. Can you share your experience?

Tata: I am usually a very difficult critic. But the driving experience was extremely satisfying. You have to keep the price point in mind to get an objective view.

Are you fully satisfied with the car?

Tata: The drive to stretch the envelope has been extremely satisfying. Today's story started some years ago when I observed families riding on two wheelers, the father driving a scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife sitting behind him holding a baby, and I asked myself whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family. A vehicle that could be within everybody's reach, built to meet all safety standards, designed to meet or exceed emission norms and low in pollution and high in fuel efficiency. I am happy we are at the threshold of achieving that dream.

How much demand do you think can be fulfilled?

Tata: I agree that the demand is likely to exceed the supply. Launching the car despite production constraints is an interim plan. We didn't want the customer to wait for the car anymore.

Are you planning to build the car in Pune also?

Kant: The car, originally scheduled to roll out just from one plant, is now rolling out from three. We do not want to complicate matters or have too many tasks at our hands and hence we have decided to build the Nano at just Pantnagar (in Uttarakhand) and Sanand (in Gujarat).

Now that the car is launched, what message would you give to Mamata Banerjee?

Tata: I would only like to say Good Afternoon.

What has been the enquiry level so far for the car?

Kant: We have received 30 million hits on our website (the Tata Nano website) so far.

Mr Tata, you had said some market forces which were planning to derail the project. Can you please name them and what is it that you have to say to them. Also, now that the car has been launched, will you look at retirement?

Tata: I will answer both your questions through one answer: I will answer it at the appropriate time. It has been a nightmare getting this product out.

Rediff article on:Slumdog Millionaire: Big money for Indian companies

It's not just about the Oscars, Golden Globe and millions of dollars that Slumdog Millionaire has grossed globally, many Indian companies too are raking in big money from this Hollywood movie.
Fox Star Studio India, the distributor of Slumdog Millionaire in the country, has managed to gross around Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) from the markets, surpassing collections of some of the biggest Bollywood hits of last year such as Rock On.
From theatrical collections alone, Slumdog Millionaire and its Hindi version Slumdog Crorepati have managed to get over Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million). "It's a commercial hit for us, considering that it was not a typical Bollywood film. It has made Rs 30 crore at the box office, two-thirds of which have come from its Hindi avtaar," says Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star India.
From the sale of its TV rights (cable and satellite) to Sony Entertainment channel for three years, Fox Star has reportedly made another Rs 5 crore, a huge amount considering that Slumdog has already been watched by a large number of viewers either on DVDs, pirated CDs or in theatres, according to industry sources.

Currently, Fox Star is working on thee-four Bollywood projects and is also in talks with producers for acquisition of script-driven films like Slumdog.
TataSky, the second largest direct-to-home services provider that made available Slumdog Millionaire on a pay-per-view basis, is said to have made over Rs 32 lakhs (Rs 3.2 million) within three days after paying a minimum guarantee fee of Rs 500,000 to Fox. TataSky consumers paid Rs 25 for accessing the movie on the DTH platform.
"We got orders for Slumdog Millionaire from about 1,50,000 TataSky customers. This is by far the best response received for a movie, considering it was available only for 3 days," says a senior TataSky executive.
Industry sources say that even Star Movies, the host broadcasters for the 81st Academy Awards, got high viewership from India even though the live telecast started at 6:30 am on Monday.
Star Network's executive vice-president (sales) Kevin Vaz expects about 40 per cent increase in the advertising revenue from the Oscar coverage compared to the previous years. "Compared with last year, we have registered a 30-40 per cent increase in advertising revenues from the Oscars this year," said Vaz, attributing the increase in the channel revenue to the rave reviews generated by the film in media.