On the road in India

By Peter Plisner BBC Midlands transport and motoring correspondent

The thing that strikes you immediately about Mumbai is the amount of traffic on the roads.

There is plenty of traffic on the roads in Mumbai

You notice it even before you leave the airport car park and we were told the journey to the hotel would take about an hour despite the fact it was close to midnight and only a 15-mile (24.14km) journey.

During the day journey times get even longer. And we thought congestion in the Midlands was bad.

New dealership

I had gone to India to investigate the motoring giant Tata, which recently bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford.

Mumbai's rich are buying more and more expensive cars while young children beg on the street and people sleep rough.

Two years ago Rolls Royce returned to Mumbai. A new dealership brought the UK brand back to the city for the first time in half a century.

For those who cannot afford cars there are plenty of other forms of transport, including taxis.

Rolls Royce has returned to Mumbai

Mumbai seems to have more of them than any other city I have been to and they are also incredibly cheap.

Jaguars are not yet sold in India, although that might change now that Tata has taken over the brand.

We talked to one person who already owns a Jag. Bollywood star Jackie Schroff has one of the earliest Jaguars made.

Another thing I noticed early on was the amount of business Tata is involved in.

Best seller

One analyst told me that when he wakes up he uses Tata products and when he goes to bed it is Tata.

The company is into everything and the signs around Mumbai are everywhere. From buses, lorries and cars to water, crisps and tea it is all made by Tata.

Motorbikes are also popular in India, but you will be surprised when you see that not all riders wear helmets.

Even if they do it is usually only the driver. A loophole in the law appears to let them off the hook, although not when it comes to safety in an accident.

Motorbikes are popular with people in India

After a few days in Mumbai we moved to Pune along what can only be described as the bumpiest motorway I have ever travelled on.

Pune is where Tata has one of its biggest car plants. More than 1,000 vehicles a day emerge from the factory.

It is also the place where much of the development work has been done on the Nano, the world's cheapest car.

It was unveiled in January and the world's press loved it. As one of the first UK journalists to be given access to the car I felt honoured.

Sitting in the car, although it is small, it feels incredibly spacious.

Technology centre

Elsewhere in the plant workers were busy making Tata's most popular model, the Indica.

It is a best seller for them, although when the same car was rebranded, the City Rover here did not sell so well.

Some might remember Top Gear presenter James May saying it was the worst car he had ever driven.

Tata admits they learnt important lessons from its dealings with MG Rover.

But despite the collapse of MG Rover, a British connection with Tata remains.

It is employing scores of engineers from the UK to help improve the quality of the India product. The company has also set up a technology centre in Coventry.

While in Pune I met up with Dr Clive Hickman, Tata's head of engineering.

He talks enthusiastically about both Tata and the cars they are producing and seems confident that if Tata's cars are launched again in the UK, the reception will be very different from what greeted the City Rover.

A new version of the Indica is due to be launched in India very soon.

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