Tata Motors breaks ground on first Indian plant for JLR models
Tata Motors is building the new auto plant as a greenfield facility in Panapakkam, a town in the Ranipet district of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. “We are pleased to make Panapakkam as the home of our next generation of cars and SUVs, including electric and luxury vehicles,” Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran commented on the groundbreaking ceremony.
Building the Tamil Nadu plant involves a significant investment of approximately 90,000 million rupees (around 968,000 euros). Tata Motors plans to start manufacturing in phases and achieve an annual production capacity of more than 250,000 vehicles over the next five to seven years. However, the company has not yet announced the start of production (SOP) timeline. According to a report from Business Standard, the homegrown automaker could commence operations by late 2025 or early 2026. JLR, which is owned by Indian Tata Motors, initially wanted to launch six electric models in the coming years. In February, the carmaker stepped on the brakes, saying it would focus more on plug-in hybrids and that the demand for pure EVs had cooled down. However, the company would still launch four BEVs by 2026.
An Autocar India report earlier said Tata Motors will likely utilise 75% of the capacity for JLR models and export most of the output. According to this article, JLR will develop these models on the Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA), an upcoming dedicated EV platform. That Tata and JLR want to build EVs in India has been known since the beginning of the year.
Tata Motors Electric Mobility Limited (TPEML), a subsidiary of Tata Motors that markets Tata EVs in India, earlier stated in an announcement that EMA will underpin JLR’s electric mid-size SUVs from 2025. TPEML has licensed this platform from JLR to launch an ‘Avinya’ series of EVs. The company may sell these Tata EVs in India and developed countries as it identifies an opportunity in the low-cost EV segment within these export markets.
Tata Motors is not limiting the portfolio of the upcoming factory to EVs and may also build ICE models there. The Autocar India report stated that the company is considering relocating the production of some ICE models to India and could manufacture them at the Tamil Nadu plant.
JLR entered India in 2009 but has never stepped into full-scale manufacturing. At the highest level, it assembles models from imported knocked-down kits. When Tata Motors begins producing JLR models from scratch at the Tamil Nadu plant, it will mark a significant milestone in the British luxury brand’s journey in the country. Currently, JLR’s luxury cars are not as popular as those of Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz in India, but its upcoming heavily localised models could redefine its position in the market.
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