NEW DELHI: Tata Motors is reportedly planning to manufacture Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) luxury cars in Tamil Nadu. While the company is yet to confirm or deny the reports, it is expected that the home-grown automaker will roll out battery-powered JLR vehicles from the upcoming plant.
Tata Motors in March had announced setting up a vehicle manufacturing unit in Ranipet district in Tamil Nadu with an investment of Rs 9,000 crore. The automaker had not announced whether it would make passenger vehicles or commercial vehicles here.
The development is seen as part of Tata Group’s effort to turn JLR into an EV brand. Last year JLR, which was acquired by Tata Motors in 2009, said it would invest 15 billion pounds ($19 billion) over the next five years on EVs.
The fresh reports come at a time when global automakers are queuing up to start manufacturing EVs in India. Vietnam-based EV maker VinFast Auto recently commenced construction work for setting up a new integrated EV manufacturing unit at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu where the company has planned to invest Rs 4000 crore, spread over 5 years.
US electric carmaker Tesla is also expected to announce its entry into the Indian market soo where it may invest $2-3 billion to establish an EV manufacturing unit. Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk is all set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 2-day visit to India starting from Sunday. It is expected that Musk will make Tesla’s proposed investment announcement following his meeting with the PM.
Tesla is said to have started discussions with the state governments in Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP and Telangana for the proposed investment. A few other state governments are also aggressively luring Tesla to consider them.
Meanwhile, JLR continues to report healthy growth in sales. Last week, the company said that its March quarter sales rose 11% from a year earlier to 114,038 units, driven by increased production and sustained global demand. JLR sales in India grew by 81% to 4,436 units in the fiscal ended March 31, 2024.