Tata Group to invest ₹42,537 cr in UK gigafactory

Tata Group plans to invest over 4 billion pounds or ₹42,537 crore to set up a 40-gigawatt battery cell gigafactory in the United Kingdom.

Tata Sons says the investment aims to deliver electric mobility and renewable energy storage solutions for customers in the U.K. and Europe.

JLR and Tata Motors will be anchor customers, with supplies commencing from 2026, the salt-to-software conglomerate says in a statement.

The electric car battery factory will be one of the largest in Europe. It is also one of the largest-ever investments in the UK automotive sector.

The new gigafactory is expected to create up to 4,000 new direct jobs and is set to provide almost half of the battery production needed by 2030, turbocharging Britain's switch to zero-emissions vehicles, according to the U.K. government.

The battery gigafactory will produce high-performance battery cells and packs for a variety of applications within the mobility and energy sectors.

The company's strategic growth plans for its flexible manufacturing capacity will begin with a rapid ramp-up phase and the start of production in 2026, the conglomerate says.

"Tata Group will be setting up one of Europe's largest battery cell manufacturing facilities in the UK. 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, anchored by our own business, Jaguar Land Rover," says N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons.

The gigafactory intends to maximise its renewable energy mix, with an ambition for 100% clean power. The plant will employ technologies and resource-efficient processes like battery recycling to recover and reuse all the original raw materials to deliver a truly circular economy ecosystem, the Tata group.

Commenting about the announcement of the UK gigafactory, UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, says: "Tata group's decision to build their new gigafactory here in the UK – their first outside of India – is a huge vote of confidence in Britain. This will be one of the largest ever investments in the UK automotive sector. It will not only create thousands of skilled jobs for Britons around the country, but it will also strengthen our lead in the global transition to electric vehicles, helping to grow our economy in clean industries of the future."

"With the global transition to zero emission vehicles well underway, this will help grow our economy by driving forward our lead in battery technology whilst creating as many as 4,000 jobs, and thousands more in the supply chain. We can be incredibly proud that Britain has been chosen as home to Tata Group's first gigafactory outside India, securing our place as one of the most attractive places to build electric vehicles," says Sunak.

Tata Group also plans to set up a lithium-ion cell manufacturing unit in Gujarat with an initial investment of around ₹13,000 crore. Its subsidiary Agratas Energy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Gujarat to build a gigafactory with production capacity of 20-gigawatt hours.

Tata Group's gigafactory in Gujarat will ensure "political de-risking" and control of the whole supply chain upstream as well as downstream, the automaker said in its investor presentation last month.