Siddhartha Shome is happy with the Nano- he takes a comprehensive look at all the arguments for and against the ‘people’s car’:

Some have put forward the argument that instead of small cars, Indians should concentrate on mass transit. I agree that India should indeed invest heavily in mass transit. However, I do not think that this calls for severe curbs (“tax it like crazy”) on the auto industry. This is not a zero-sum game. This is not an “either-or” situation.

Among Indian cities, Delhi has a much more extensive mass transit system than, say, Kolkata. But Delhi also has a higher rate of car ownership than Kolkata. In reality, car ownership is much more closely tied to peoples’ incomes than to the presence or absence of mass transit.

A few months ago I was in France on vacation. I was most impressed with the excellent public transport system there. However, in spite of an impressive mass transit system, car ownership in France is high - almost 500 cars for every 1000 people (India has 7 cars for every 1000 people). Car ownership in France is high, not because the mass transit system there is bad, but simply because peoples’ incomes are high.

A cogently argued post but I wouldn’t fully agree with his views on solutions for global warming. Extremely readable.