Tata to invest Rs 42,500 crore to build EV battery plant in UK

Tata Group on Wednesday announced its plans to build a £4 billion (about Rs 42,500 crore) battery cell gigafactory in the United Kingdom. Tata Motors and its British subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will be anchor customers for the plant capable of providing 40 gigawatt hours worth of batteries annually.

The new plant is expected to be built in Somerset, south-west England and production is due to start in 2026. The factory could supply roughly half a million vehicles per year depending on the size of the batteries.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed Tata Group’s announcement as a “huge vote of confidence” for the country’s automotive industry and economy. “We can be incredibly proud that Britain has been chosen as home to Tata Group’s first gigafactory outside India,” he added.

“Tata Group will set up one of Europe’s largest battery cell manufacturing facilities in the UK,” Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said in a press statement.

“Our multi-billion pound investment will bring state-of-the-art technology to the country, helping to power the automotive sector’s transition to electric mobility,” he added.

“With this strategic investment, Tata Group further strengthens its commitment to the UK, alongside our many companies operating here across technology, consumer, hospitality, steel, chemicals, and automotive,” Chandrasekaran added.

Later in the day in a tweet, Sunak said, “The new gigafactory will provide almost half of the car battery production needed in the UK by 2030. And it will mean the UK is perfectly positioned to be a global leader in battery technology.” “This investment will also create up to 4,000 new direct jobs and thousands more in the wider supply chain,” Sunalk underscored.

The UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said details of the government’s incentives and support provided to the Tata Group, as part of the agreement, will be published in due course as part of regular transparency data.

The plant is a major win for Britain, which is trying to catch up in the global race to build electric vehicle (EV) battery capacity locally. In fact, homegrown battery production will also help British automakers comply with post-Brexit trade rules that will require them to source more electric vehicle components locally in order to avoid tariffs on UK-EU trade from 2024.

The investment also backs UK’s plan to ban new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, forcing its car manufacturing sector to switch production to electric vehicles. The ban is part of its long-standing goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.