According to Prof Bakshi, 62 percent respondents were of the view that Tata Nano will not have an adverse impact on the environment, while 65 percent respondents answered that Nano will lead to more congestion on roads.

About the safety aspect of the car, 54 percent respondents believed that the engine at the rear may prove fatal in case of a head on collision, but 46 percent respondents reposed their faith in Tata’s claim about the car faring well in the tests.

While 70 percent respondents agreed that high sale volumes of the car will lead to a higher import bill, 81 percent of them said that the Nano will lead to a spurt in the rise and expansion of the financial companies and institutions offering credit facilities to potential buyers.

Also, 67 percent respondents believed that with the coming of Nano, Maruti and other small car players will cut prices. In addition, 64 percent respondents believed that Nano will herald a new economic race to exploit the emerging markets in Asia and Africa by the multi-national car manufacturers.

Another question was whether Nano will eat the market of two-wheelers or cars or both. Here, 64 percent respondents believed that it will eat the market of the two-wheelers as well as four-wheelers. Eight percent were of the view that it will eat up the market of other cars, and 28 percent said that it will affect the two-wheeler market.

Another aspect related to lifestyle. A number of questions were asked about the socio-economic impact of the car. 60 percent respondents believed that Nano will change the manner in which one travels in semi-urban and rural India. They perceived that Nano might become the prime mode of transportation in these areas. And 67 percent respondents were confident that many people who do not own even two-wheelers might straightaway buy a car. Regarding Nano as a status symbol, the response was evenly poised. Just 53 percent of the respondents believed that a vast majority of the lower middle classes in India, China, South East Asia and Africa will be keen to purchase this status symbol.

The same trend was witnessed when they answered about the possibility of Nano forcing people living in narrow localities to move to spacious colonies. While 49 per cent responded in favour of it, 51 per cent went against it.

Regarding the image of India in the world after the launch of Nano, 82 percent answered positively that Nano will have a similar beneficial effect on India’s automotive industry, as happened in the case of the Y2K opportunity which brought Indian IT companies and professionals on the world map. Again, 72 percent of the respondents believed that Nano demonstrates to the world, India’ s technological, intellectual and entrepreneurial abilities and enhances India’s image abroad.

Dr BS Bhatia, Director General of the RITM Institute of Management and Computer Technology and a renowned management expert, under whose guidance Prof Bakshi had undertaken this survey, presented his views on the subject.

He said that too many Nanos on the road will put a heavy burden on the foreign exchequer. He said that a question mark arises on huge import bills on scarce resources for heavy consumption.

He highlighted that there is urgent need of policy regarding the use of scarce resources and import on such a large scale. He also stressed on the need of developing parking lots and other related infrastructure to avoid chaos in cities.