Billled as ‘the people’s car’, India’s Tata Motors’ ultra-cheap car will be the least polluting vehicle on Indian roads, the company’s chairman said Monday, refuting criticism that the would add to traffic chaos and carbon emission.

Ratan Tata said his company will bring what is being billed as “the people’s car” to market next year and its price of around 100,000 rupees ($2500) would be on target, despite a sharp rise in costs for steel and other raw materials since the project was announced three years ago. Automakers from around the world are keenly watching progress in the Tata project, which analysts say could set new price benchmarks and force other manufacturers to follow suit. But Tata has been criticized by environmental groups who say the attractive price tag would bring the car within the reach of millions of ordinary Indians, triggering more pollution and burdening the country’s crumbling infrastructure. Tata said his car will adhere to strict quality norms like any automobile in the developed world, however. “We will have less pollution per vehicle than any other vehicle in the country today,” Tata told The Associated Press. The pollution levels will be close to that of two-wheelers, he said.

Tata plans to make between 250,000 to 500,000 of these a year.