The Tata Group wants to invest 130 billion rupees (just under €1.5 billion euros) in the construction of a new battery cell factory in the Indian state of Gujarat. Construction of the factory is to begin there in three years at the latest.

Tata has now signed an agreement to this effect with the government of Gujarat. The new production facility is to have an initial annual capacity of 20 GWh. According to Tata, this could be doubled in a second expansion phase.

The new battery plant is expected to reduce India’s dependence on Korea and China, which are currently India’s largest battery suppliers. “The plant will go a long way in contributing to the development of the EV ecosystem in Gujarat and India,” Vijay Nehra, a Gujarat state government official told Reuters.

Tata already operates an electric car factory in Sanand, the place where the cell plant will now be set up. The carmaker had taken over the former from Ford in January. Tata Motors says it has sold 50,000 electric cars in India so far and plans to launch ten electric models by March 2026. Tata is also building a major charging network in India, with 25,000 charging stations to be installed over the next five years.

Earlier this year, it was leaked that the Tata Group was considering building two battery cell factories: one in India and another in Europe. The European factory will reportedly be built in England, at Gravity Business Park near Bridgwater. According to local media, one reason for the choice of location is probably the high subsidy promised by the UK government in the hundreds of millions. In addition, Tata’s European factory will produce cells for its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover.

reuters.com, indiatimes.com