Good or bad?

And while on Nano, how about looking at the pros and cons. One, it is cheap, small, gives good mileage and good emission standards. It is a better alternative to the millions of Indians who commute by two-wheelers. It is affordable, safe transport!

So why are environmentalists dubbing it a nightmare? Simply because of the numbers. At least 25 percent of the 50 million who use two-wheelers are expected to shift. As disclosed by the company, the bookings are expected to exceed records and random lots will be resorted to, to allocate the cars. As more and more people buy the cars, the emissions will multiply, however low they are for a single car.

And then, imagine the traffic jams and the idling it will cause? And not to forget the demand on energy, i.e petrol.

News reports say Nano potentially could expand the country's auto market by 65 percent and spur a 20 percent increase in auto sales in its first year. Honda, Toyota and Fiat too are developing competitors to the Nano.

India is the world's fourth-largest overall producer of the greenhouse gas and its carbon emissions are expected to triple by 2020, according to the United Nations. A car like Nano will affect climate projections drastically, say experts.

Tata claims that the Nano is cleaner than the scooters it will replace and claims the car's catalytic converter cuts emissions by 80 percent. The Nano supposedly emits 30 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, well below the 160 g/km average of Europe's cars and far less than the 130 g/km standard the European Union will adopt in 2012. Even if half a million Nano's hit the road and each of them travels 5,000 miles a year, they will be responsible for less than 8 percent of India's annual CO2 emissions.

On the energy side, the International Energy Agency has said "alarming" growth in worldwide energy needs could, among other things, bring worldwide shortages. It said India's motor vehicle fuel consumption will triple by 2030.

What when the prices go up again as we said in our earlier post? Will a few more million cars on the roads spell trouble? Or do we look at the new Nano as the way out of the squeeze, small and efficient? As the rich west continues to opt for big SUVs, can it afford to point fingers at the new kid on the block?

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