Tata Group of India will establish an electric vehicle battery plant in the United Kingdom to serve its Jaguar Land Rover facilities. The plant is Britain’s biggest vehicle battery gigafactory, as the country aims to keep pace with the United States and the European Union in the fight to grow green industries.

Tata, Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company, will invest 4 billion pounds ($5.2 billion) in the battery factory, which will create up to 4,000 jobs and provide an initial output of 40 gigawatt hours. The gigafactory will be the company’s first plant outside of India. 

The new plant is likely to be built in Somerset, south-west England, whereas Jaguar Land Rover’s UK facilities are located near Birmingham, central England, reflecting the necessity for big batteries to be manufactured close to their vehicle operations.

Production will begin in 2026 to supply JLR’s future battery electric models which will include the Range Rover, Defender, Discovery, and Jaguar brands.

Britain stated that the facility’s initial output of 40 gigawatt hours would provide nearly half of the battery capacity required by 2030. According to the Faraday Institution, Britain will require more than 100 GWh per year by that time. 

UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented on the development saying “We’re actually well on our way to providing the EV capacity that the country needs,” he said.