The company’s top brass chose to remain tight-lipped about developments on grounds of “strict confidentiality,” according to an official spokesman.

It is likely that Tata Motors will sign a three-way heads of agreement (HoA) with Ford and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) labour unions.

Tata and Ford met with British union leaders last week to resolve final details before drawing up a memorandum of understanding for the sale, Automotive News reported on Monday on its website. “The sooner everything goes through, the better,” Roger Maddison, national officer of Unite, the largest union in the UK auto industry, told Automotive News Europe.

Key issue

“The workforces are beginning to get anxious.” Tata has agreed to meet the guarantees sought by union leaders, Mr Maddison said.

A key issue was whether Tata would continue to source engines and other systems from Ford’s British plants.

Ford officials were not immediately available for comment. Automotive News cited a Ford “insider” who said the announcement was being delayed in order not to overshadow the introduction of an updated Ford Fiesta at the Geneva auto show next week.

The HoA is likely to be inked within next few days, which will pave the way for Tata Motors to take over the brands by early March. Unite represents workers at Land Rover and Jaguar and has about 12,000 members.

Ford had named Tata Motors, which unveiled world’s cheapest car at $2,500 earlier this year, as frontrunner to buy its luxury brands and said it would proceed with “focused negotiations at a more detailed level.”

According to sources Tata Motors was also negotiating 15 to 20 long-term pacts with Ford, which supplies engines, key components and technology for European brands. The deal is expected to cost Tata Motors $2 billion.