Tata’s £4bn Electric Car Battery Plant Being Set Up In UK

Web Desk — Renowned Indian Multinational Tata has announced to build a gigafactory in United Kingdom to manufacture batteries, as nations accelerate away from fossil fuel vehicles.

It will be Tata’s first gigafactory outside India in the county of Somerset, southwest England.

The 4 billion pound UK plant will become one of Europe’s largest battery-cell manufacturing sites with a capacity of 40 gigawatt hours, Tata said in a statement. It is expected that the project will produce thousands of new jobs.

Besides the economy, the announcement will politically benefit Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the eve of three crucial by-elections in England, including one in Somerset.

Chairman N. Chandrasekaran said that Tata Group would be setting up one of Europe’s largest battery cell manufacturing facilities in the UK, adding that the multi-billion-pound investment will bring state-of-the-art technology to the country.

The plant is due to start production in 2026, creating up to 4,000 jobs and thousands more in the wider supply chain. According to the British government, the factory would be a huge boost to the UK’s automotive sector, providing almost half of the battery production the country would require by 2030.

The gigafactory will supply JLR’s future battery electric models including the Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar brands. The factory has the potential to also supply other car manufacturers.

Appreciating the project, British Premier Sunak said the project by creating thousands of skilled jobs, will strengthen our lead in the global transition to electric vehicles. He further said that it will also give a boost to our economy in clean industries of the future.