By P. Karunakharan. Colombo, Sri Lanka, 08:00 PM IST

Sri Lanka has invited India's Tata Motors to relocate its controversial Tata Nano car manufacturing plant to the island nation, an official said Sunday.

An official of the Board of Investment (BOI) said that Sri Lanka's Enterprise Development and Minister of Investment Promotion Sarath Amunugama made the offer last week.

This followed objections in West Bengal's Singur area to the Nano small car project. Nano is described as a small, affordable and rear engine passenger car aimed primarily at the Indian market.

Tata Motors suspended construction work and at one time was reportedly looking at alternative sites for the plant to produce the world's cheapest car.

The BOI official told IANS that Sri Lanka has also earmarked a project site at the Special Economic Zone at Mirigama, located some 35 km north of Colombo in Gampaha district.

Sri Lanka is confident that Tata Motors would benefit from the advantages of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, which enables Indian firms to manufacture goods in Sri Lanka for re-export to India or other markets.

By P. Karunakharan (Staff Writer, © IANS)