Inaugurating the Tata Motors Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) manufacturing facility at Panapakkam in Ranipet district, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday also flagged off the first unit rolled out from the factory.
The Chief Minister also took a test drive of the vehicle on the occasion. The state government says that this JLR assembling facility, established at a cost of Rs 9000 crore, will provide employment to 5000 people. With this facility turning operations, Tata Motors is looking to strengthen JLR in the market for luxury vehicles.
Commissioned in late 2024 pursuant to an MoU signed with the Tamil Nadu government, the facility, located at the SIPCOT Industrial complex, will supplement the assembly operations at the Chakan plant near Pune in Maharashtra.
According to company sources, capacity as well as expansion constraints at other facilities, including Chakan, were the reasons for the Panapakkam unit, which is ideally located closer to the Chennai port for export and domestic distribution.
Demand for the Land Rover models continues to be on the rise in India, while Jaguar production has slowed down. With sustainability-linked production practices, the Panapakkam manufacturing facility, spread over 470 acres of the 1200-acre SIPCOT complex, will run on 100 per cent renewable energy, maintain company sources. Annual production is expected to be raised in phases to reach 25,000 units.
Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Raaja, Tata Group chairperson N Chandrasekaran and senior executives of the company were present on the occasion.