The Indian conglomerate Tata confirmed this morning it will build its flagship gigafactory (an electric car battery plant) – in the UK. Tata, which owns Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel in Wales, has said it will invest £4 billion into the Somerset site with its sights set on 40GWh of output – making it one of the largest gigafactories in Europe. Significant government subsidies (£500 million according to the FT) for energy costs, research and local infrastructure likely what sweetened the deal enough for Tata to choose Britain over a rival site in Spain. A good thing too: the UK has been lagging behind while the EU, US and China have invested heavily in EV infrastructure. Tata’s parent company chair Natarajan Chandrasekaran – who reportedly held secret talks with Rishi Sunak in May on the deal – said the gigafactory would bring “state-of-the-art technology” to the UK and help the automotive sector transition to “electric mobility”. The plant will eventually supply other car manufacturers with production due to start in 2026.
Photograph Jaguar Land Rover