Karnataka has invited Tata group chairman Ratan Tata to relocate the Nano small car project to the state, the government said on 27 Aug.

"The Karnataka government is ready to allot 50 acres of land adjacent to the 900 acres already given to the Tatas in Dharwad," cabinet spokesperson and rural development minister Shobha Karandlaje told reporters.

The Tata group's Dharwad facility in north Karnataka has been in operation for a decade.

Karnataka is the latest to offer land for the Nano project after Ratan Tata's statement that the group may shut the newly set up facility at Singur in West Bengal if the agitation over land acquisition continues there.

With this, Karnataka joins Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Haryna in trying to get the prestigious Rs.15-billion ($375-million) project.

Source: IANS