Ratan Tata, chairman of India’s sprawling Tata Group, on Thursday will pull the covers off a car that is dividing his country. The “People’s Car”, expected to sell for as little as $2,600 when it reaches showrooms in September, is stirring nationalistic pride in India’s business community – but it is also causing environmentalists sleepless nights.

Meanwhile, for a government determined to kickstart slow-moving industrialisation and generate sorely-needed jobs for surplus rural labour, the People’s Car has taken on a broader significance, symbolising India’s determination not to cede the mantle of manufacturing excellence to China.