Tata to build £4 billion UK battery factory to supply Jaguar Land Rover

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The Tata Group on Wednesday announced plans to build a £4 billion flagship battery factory in the UK to supply Jaguar Land Rover, in a major boost to the domestic car industry that is struggling to adapt to the era of electric vehicles. .

The Indian conglomerate, which owns JLR, confirmed on Wednesday that it has chosen the UK site for the Gigafactory, which will start supplying British carmakers and Tata Motors from 2026.

The gigafactory, set for a site near Bridgwater in Somerset, south-west England, is expected to create 4,000 jobs directly and several thousand more indirectly. Tata said the investment was worth £4 billion.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed a development that will accelerate the UK car industry’s sluggish transition from petrol and diesel cars to electric vehicles.

He said: “Not only will this create thousands of skilled jobs for Britons across the country, but it will also strengthen our lead in the global transition to electric vehicles, helping to power our economy in the clean industries of the future. “

In an effort to secure the factory, Sunak held secret talks with Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of parent company Tata Sons, in May.

“Our billion-pound investment will bring cutting-edge technology to the country, helping to transform the automotive sector to electric mobility, supported by our own business, JLR,” Chandrasekaran said in a statement on Wednesday.

UK Energy Secretary Grant Shapps declined to say how much subsidy the UK government had offered to Tata.

Tata sought £500 million and had previously said it was looking at an alternative location for the gigafactory in Spain.

asked on bbc radio 4 Today Asked whether the total support package could eventually reach £1 billion, Shapps said: “No, not directly.”

UK state support is expected to come in the form of direct grants, local transport improvements and the promise of cheaper energy bills. “It’s big, I don’t complain about it,” he said.

Shapps said Tata’s decision was the “biggest investment ever” in the UK automotive industry, and the most significant boost for the sector since Japanese car companies moved to Britain in the 1980s.

“This is a huge vote of confidence for the British economy and puts the UK on the fast track to electric vehicle production,” he added.

Shapps said the Bridgewater site, which is close to the new Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, could not only produce enough batteries for JLR, but also supply “half the EVs we need by 2030”.

Tata did not specify in its press release where in the UK the Gigafactory would be built, pointing to electoral rules prohibiting sensitive government announcements ahead of elections.

Voters in Somerton and Frome, near the site of the Somerset Gigafactory, will cast their votes in a parliamentary by-election on Thursday.

The Liberal Democrats are expected to easily snatch the seat from the Conservatives.

Labor officials said Tata has sought assurances from the party that it will retain the government’s support if JLR wins the next election due in 2024, a sign that business expects a government change soon.

Tata, which dominates the electric cars market in India, is also aiming to manufacture batteries in the country.

Last month, its battery subsidiary signed a deal with the western state of Gujarat to invest 130 billion won ($1.6 billion) for a lithium-ion cell plant.