EXCLUSIVE!

Tata Motors owned Jaguar Land Rover is likely to set up an engine manufacturing plant in India, a source told Autocar India.

The plant will be a “carbon copy” of a new engine plant which JLR is set to start building in the Midlands, UK in a “few” months from now. “The new plant will manufacture engines of up to 2-litres”, says our source.

When contacted JLR’s spokesperson Paul Chadderton said “Jaguar Land Rover has ambitious plans for growth and there are many matters related to that.” We learn that the initial investment in the engine plant could be in the range of 400 million Pounds.

Currently JLR buys all its engines from Ford. Once the new plant comes up in the UK, the company may look at sourcing only bigger than 2-litre engines from Ford. The India and the UK plant are likely to have an annual cumulative production capacity of half a million units.

The India plant will come up only after the UK plant is up and running. This plant will be strategic as JLR is looking at starting assembly operations in China, after launching Land Rover’s assembly plant in Pune, India on May 27, 2011.

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