The high-profile cheapest car in the world is being launched in India today.

The Tata Nano costs just under £1,400 and is being launched in Mumbai today, before going on sale across India over the next ten days.

Tata, which owns Jaguar and Land Rover, hopes the three-metre long five-seater car will be cheap enough to encourage millions of Indians to trade up from their motorcycles.

Car industry analysts estimate it will take five or six years for Tata to start to make a profit from the Nano.

A slightly bigger European version, the Nano Europa, is due to follow in 2011. To read about Tata's plans in the UK, click here.