FAW keen to make low-floor bus in West Bengal

Chinese vehicle manufacturer First Automobile Works (FAW) on April 13 expressed its interest to set up an unit in West Bengal for producing low-floor bus, in a joint venture with Ural India.

Calling on Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the state secretariat, accompanied by Ural India Chairman J K Saraf, FAW officials sought 300 acre from the state government to set up the joint venture unit adjacent to the Ural India project.

Saraf later said that a delegation visited the project site in Haldia where FAW would use its own technology for producing low-floor buses. The brand name would be decided later.

The delegation, which earlier visited a site at Guptamani near Kharagpur and the Nano site at Singur in Hooghly district, also met Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty and Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen.

Sen said that the Chinese company was looking for a site for setting up a manufacturing unit of its own.

"FAW is doing a market study. On completion it will submit a proposal to the state government about the proposed manufacturing unit,"Sen said.

Last year, Trinamool-led agitation had forced Tatas to pull out their Nano, the world&aposcheapest car, project from West Bengal.