The factory at Panapakkam in Ranipet district will produce passenger vehicles for Tata Motors and its Jaguar Land Rover unit, and will cater to requirements of both Indian and international markets, the automaker said.
The Tata Group currently has more than 150,000 direct employees in Tamil Nadu across Tata Consultancy Services, Titan, Tata Chemicals, Tata Power, Indian Hotels Company, and its retail businesses, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said at the ceremony attended by chief minister MK Stalin among others.
In the last three years, the group made investments in three major production units in Tamil Nadu — Tata Power, Tata Electronics and Tata Motors, he said. It also invested Rs 2,200 crore in Tamil Nadu’s industrial training institutes.
“This is not just another factory. This is a modern, state-of-the-art factory that will produce very high-end vehicles,” Chandrasekaran said. “For the first time, this new modern platform will be developed by Tata Motors and JLR together. Once fully operational, it will create 5,000 direct jobs and will foster an entire ecosystem in this region, generating many more jobs.”
The facility has been designed for an annual production capacity of more than a quarter million vehicles, the company said. Production will begin in a phased manner and progressively increase to reach this capacity over the next 5-7 years, it said.