A team headed by Dr B Lohia, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at SUSCET, has designed a turbo car. "When the Tatas revealed their plan of launching a car which would cost Rs 1 lakh, it struck me that there should be something which even those who owe a cycle or scooters can think of affording. The idea was to develop something out of waste," said Dr Lohia.

Other members of the team included Sandeep Sharma, Shiv Kumar and Gurcharan Singh.

"I bought a 100 cc Kinetic engine for Rs 1,500 and galvanised iron sheets. We started experimenting in our college laboratory. After a lot of trial and error, we managed to give the car an aerodynamic shape. The efficieny of the car depends on this," he said.

Lohia claimed the four-seater, which is the size of a golf car, gives an average of 36 kilometre per litre and can attain the speed of 100 kilometre per hour. Apart from the petrol version, the car can also be battery operated or run on solar energy.

Dr Lohia said they are now looking for a company who will accept the idea and manufacture the car. "Making the car cost us Rs 7,000. If manufactured commercially, its cost will be around Rs 25,000 or less. Driving two-wheelers is not very safe these days due to the increasing traffic. Since the size of the car is small, there will not be much parking space required," said Dr Lohia.