Tata Motors on Saturday held the groundbreaking ceremony of its new production facility to manufacture cars and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), at Panapakkam in Ranipet district, Tamil Nadu.
The manufacturing plant is expected to produce vehicles for Tata Motors and JLR (Jaguar Land Rover), catering to the requirements of both Indian and international markets.
Tata Motors Group intends to invest around ₹9,000 crore in this greenfield manufacturing facility, which has been designed for an annual production capacity of over 250,000 vehicles. Production will begin in a phased manner and progressively increase to reach this capacity over the next 5-7 years, the automaker says.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin and N. Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Motors.
“Tata Group is renowned for its contribution to nation building. It has a deep, historic relationship with Tamil Nadu with many of its manufacturing plants successfully operating in our state for the past several years. We welcome Tata Motors, an auto manufacturer of global scale, for setting up its newest manufacturing facility in Panapakkam, Ranipet,” says Stalin.
This manufacturing unit has the potential to create over 5,000 employment opportunities (direct and indirect) and contribute towards building future ready skills amongst the local communities in and around the plant, the company says.
In addition, the plant will use 100% renewable energy for running operations.
“We are pleased to make Panapakkam as the home of our next generation of cars and SUVs, including electric and luxury vehicles. Tamil Nadu is a leading industrial state with progressive policies and an established automotive hub with qualified and talented workforce. Several Tata Group companies have been successfully operating from here. We now intend to build our advanced vehicle manufacturing plant here using cutting-edge manufacturing technology and world-class sustainability practices. Our endeavour will be to have a high share of women employees across levels, in line with our focus towards greater empowerment of women,” says N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons.
Tata Motors reported a 74% year-on-year increase in its net profit at ₹5,566 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 compared with ₹3,203 crore in the same quarter last year. Revenue from operations rose 5.7% year-on-year to ₹107,316 crore for the first quarter compared to ₹101,528 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
Tata Motors entered the mid-size SUV segment for the first time with the launch of Curvv earlier in September. In a high growth segment populated with boxy-SUV body styles, Tata Motors is betting on the Curvv’s SUV Coupe design. Tata Motors also slashed prices of electric vehicles by up to ₹3 lakh this month. The carmaker witnessed a sharp decline in electric vehicle sales to fleet owners after the government withdrew subsidy.
