Tata Group, the Indian conglomerate that owns Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has announced that it will invest 4 billion pounds ($5.2 billion) to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Britain, creating up to 4,000 jobs and boosting the country’s car industry.
The plant, which will be Tata’s first gigafactory outside of India, will be located in Somerset, south-west England, and will produce an initial output of 40 gigawatt hours of batteries for JLR’s future electric models, including the Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar brands.
The plant is expected to start production in 2026 and will supply almost half of the battery demand needed by Britain by 2030, according to the government, which has provided financial support for the project. The amount of the subsidies has not been disclosed.
The investment is a major coup for Britain, which has lagged behind its European rivals in building EV battery gigafactories, with more than 30 planned or under construction across the European Union. Britain currently has one small Nissan plant and another in the works.
Domestic battery production is vital for automakers, as batteries are heavy and expensive to transport and need to be built near car factories.
The British government welcomed the Tata investment as a testament to the strength of its car manufacturing industry and its skilled workers. It said the project would help achieve its goal of banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and becoming a net zero carbon emitter by 2050.
Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the investment would strengthen Tata’s commitment to Britain and support JLR’s transition to electrification. Tata bought JLR from Ford in 2008 and has turned it into a profitable business.
India’s Tata chooses UK for $5 billion Jaguar Land Rover gigafactory