Company sources said that recent directive by the West Bengal government that said no new cars would be allowed to be registered in the state which did not not fulfill Euro-II standards after April, 2000 had been taken into consideration and experiments were on full swing to meet the deadline."We have more or less achieved the technology, but I can't tell you right now the exact date when the Euro-II compliant cars would be available in the market," a highly placed official said.

He, however, said it would be much earlier than the date fixed by the West Bengal government.

The company was already supplying diesel cars from its Uttarpara unit in West Bengal which fulfills Euro-I standards, he said. "On an average, we are supplying about 1500 diesel cars per month at present from the factory with above facilities," he added.

Prior to thestate governments directive recently regarding Euro norms, Supreme Court had also banned registration of any such cars in Delhi.The apex court's verdict had come as surprise to market leader Maruti Udyog Ltd, which, however took urgent steps to supply Euro-I compliant Maruti 800S in Delhi and the West Bengal government's decision had added to its woes.The MUL's parleys before the West Bengal government to defer its decision by three months was rejected by none other than chief minister Jyoti Basu, it was reported.

Incidentally, the Uttarpara unit of HM was not performing to its full capacity of producing around 2500 cars per month due to recession and has approached the state government to give permission to reduce work force which was subsequently rejected.

However, the company challenged the state government's contention in a court and the matter was pending till date.