Within 15 days of opening the registration processfor Nano, its Rs 1 lakh car, Tata Motors has sold nearly 5,00,000 applicationforms, raking in Rs 15 crore (at Rs 300 each). Distributors associated with theNano bookings said most of the forms were likely to translate into bookings.

The State Bank of India, which has now decided to offer loans at 10 percent during the first year, against 11.75 per cent before, has already issuedover 100,000 forms, sources close to the development said. "Out of thetotal forms, one-fourth has been sold by SBI," a person familiar with thebookings process told Business Standard.

On the number of bookings so far, a Tata Motors spokesperson described theresponse as "encouraging". "The number of booking applicationsreceived will be announced after a few days of the closure of the bookingprocess on April 25. All the booking applications will be subjected to acomputerised random selection procedure. Within 60 days of the closure ofbookings on April 25, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotment of100,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries," the spokesperson said inan e-mailed response. Delivery of the car will begin from July, the statementadded.

SBI has been distributing the forms since April 5 through its 1,350 branches inmore than 850 cities. In all, Tata Motors is using around 30,000 outlets,including group-owned retail chains Croma and Westside, in about 1,000 citiesfor distribution of forms.

Other financiers with whom Tata Motors has tied up include Tata Motor Finance,ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Punjab National Bank. The forms are also sold through218 dealers. In the first lot, each dealer was given 2,500 forms. Almost all ofthem exhausted these by the end of the third day.

Nano car loans carry a maximum tenure of seven years, against five years formost car loans. Interest rates for Nano are in line with other car loans now,which is estimated at 10-11 per cent. In addition, most banks have also startedproviding a finance facility for the booking amount of Rs 3,000.