Tata Motors’ electric subsidiary, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (TPEM), has announced that it has begun production of electric vehicles at its new Sanand facility in Gujarat. The new facility was acquired from Ford India on January 10, 2023 and is spread over an area of 460 acres.
Tata Motors says it took the company a year to retool the plant. It is currently manufacturing the Nexon at this facility. The Nexon EV, Tiago EV and Tigor EV currently make up the brand's EV portfolio, and it is gearing up to launch the Punch EV on January 17.
Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited & Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited, said, “With existing Tata production facilities nearing its saturation mark, this new facility will unlock an additional state-of-the-art manufacturing capacity of 3,00,000 units per annum, which is scalable to 4,20,000 units per annum.”
The new plant at Sanand can also build petrol and diesel vehicles depending on the requirement and includes four main shops – Stamping, Body construction, Paint and Final assembly shop – equipped with high levels of automation. As part of the retooling process, multiple tech upgrades have been undertaken in different areas of the plant, including the press, weld, paint and assembly shop, according to Tata Motors.
The plant currently employs more than 1,000 staff and technicians, with plans to create an additional 1,000 jobs in the next three to four months in line with production ramp-up plans. The plant has a 50kW solar rooftop and is expected to be water-positive by December 2024.
Tata Motors is also readying EV iterations of the Harrier and the upcoming Curvv coupe-SUV that will go on sale later this year.
Hormazd Sorabjee
Anurag Chaturvedi
