Jaguar Land Rover to start production of premium cars at Tamil Nadu unit

Jaguar Land Rover will begin assembling premium cars at its new Tamil Nadu plant on February 9, marking a step towards full-scale luxury car manufacturing in India

Tata Motors arm Jaguar Land Rover will begin assembling premium cars at its new factory in Tamil Nadu from February 9.

This would be the first time a complete manufacturing of a premium car will happen in India, rather than it just being assembled.

The ₹9,000-crore unit will assemble the Range Rover Evoque, and Tata Motors has lined up ambitious plans to use the unit for exports and future electric vehicle production. 

According to sources, Chief Minister M K Stalin will launch the first vehicle from the unit. Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran is also expected to be present at the event. 

For Tamil Nadu too, this is a flagship project as it is a key link in the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor, one of the five upcoming mega-industrial corridors in India. Two major infrastructure projects — the Bangalore-Chennai Expressway and the Bengaluru-Chennai Dedicated Freight Corridor — are expected to boost connectivity along the corridor.

“Anchoring an investment of this scale during a period of major global geopolitical uncertainty, and that too at this pace, reflects strong confidence in the state’s industrial ecosystem, policy clarity, and execution capability. This project further strengthens Tamil Nadu’s position as a trusted destination for high-value manufacturing and long-term global partnerships,” said T R B Rajaa, Tamil Nadu industries minister. 

 The company has already announced that the state-of-the-art production facility, located in Panapakkam, Ranipet district, will produce both cars and sport utility vehicles. 

“We acquired the Panapakkam land for phase two of expansion for the group. Most of our plants are running at full capacity, and in a couple of years, we will need a full-scale plant there. Phase one begins with an assembly unit because some existing plants lack space,” said Dhiman Gupta, chief financial officer, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, adding that while the plant will start with JLR, the India business will also ramp up capacity there over time.

The site, designed for an annual capacity of 250,000 vehicles, will eventually absorb more JLR assembly currently handled at Tata’s Pune plant. When asked about free trade agreements, and tariff phase-outs, the company said its impact will not be immediate. 

Being asked whether there have been any changes in JLR’s assembly plans post the India-US trade deal, the company said that there is no change at this point. 

“JLR continues its assembly operations in Pune. Tariff ramp-downs are not immediate, and we need to analyse direct imports versus completely knocked down (CKD) assembly economics, local cost structures, and volume-to-investment considerations. It is too premature to comment further,” Gupta said.

 

Currently, JLR’s Pune facility manufactures CKD units of Range Rover Velar, Evoque, Jaguar F-Pace, and Discovery Sport. Recently, the facility added Range Rover and Range Rover Sport to its production line. Mercedes-Benz, the leader in India’s luxury car market, started its Pune unit as early as 1994. Other major players such as BMW too have assembly plants.