Nano is going places already. First, it was Srilanka and now it is Nepal. The world’s cheapest car was launched in Nepal on Sunday with an introductory price of NRS 7.98 (almost Rs.5 lakh). Sipradi Trading, Tata’s exclusive dealer in Nepal for almost four decades, is retailing the car in Nepal through 14 outlets in 11 cities. Sipradi Trading is also the second largest company in Nepal with an annual turnover of NRS 1,000 crore last year.

The introduction of Tata Nano in Nepal is yet another chapter in Ratan Tata’s dream of making the car affordable for global audience. This move of Tata’s might be a big blow to the current existing cheapest car in Nepal, the Maruti 800.

A gleaming yellow Nano Standard was unveiled in the capital by Johnny Ommen, Tata Motors‘ chief of international business, passenger vehicles, and Siddhartha S.J.B. Rana, executive chairman of Sipradi Trading. The introductory offer would be open for 10 days with the delivery of the first consignment scheduled in July-end. The prices of the Nano unlike India, where it varies from state to state, would be a single price for a model.

The Tata Nano, besides the fuel efficiency and safety features, will be the first car in Nepal to come with a four-year warranty for 90,000 km. The price escalation of the Nano in Nepal is due to a whopping tax of 240 per cent, which includes 76 percent customs duty, 60 percent excise duty, 13 percent value addition tax, 5 percent road tax as well as an annual NRS 16,500 road tax.

Though the sum is quite astronomical for a Nano, the car is still the cheapest car in Nepal at the moment and like Indians, the target segment is the Nepalese who want to graduate to a car from their two-wheeler. The feedback for the Nano have been flowing since Tata Nano went on Nepal Yatra this month and there have been over 5000 queries already.

Sipradi Trading has tied up with 10 Nepali banks to offer car loans to buyers. While the Standard model can be booked with a down payment of NRS 10,000, the balance of payment could be made through five years at easy monthly instalments of NRS 11,111. The Nano CX can be booked for NRS 20,000 and the Nano LX for NRS 30,000.

Bhutan, the Bhuddist kingdom, might be next in line to have a Nano being driven on its roads if everything falls in place.