Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Friday announced the opening of its first factory in India. Located near Pune in Maharashtra, this will be JLR's first full-fledged assembly plant outside the UK.
More importantly, JLR expects the Indian operation to grow from assembling to manufacturing and is likely to invest up to $700 million for setting up an engine plant according to sources. The plant is likely to come up over 3-4 years.
According to sources, the new plant will look at making smaller family of engines with an aim to decrease the reliance on auto major Ford for supply of engines. The new plant is likely to come up close to Pune and will have an initial capacity of 200,000 engines annually. The plant could also supply engines to Chinese assembly operations once they kick off. JLR is looking to finalise a local partner for setting up an assembling facility in China soon.
JLR sees India as the second home market after the UK and is exploring other ways to include Indian base in the business. Sources have told NDTV that the management is keen to tap India for software and back-office functions like payroll. The company is likely to begin outsourcing as well as hiring technical talent from India.
JLR has reported its highest ever profits of over £1 billion for the last fiscal. JLR sales in China rose 33 per cent while sales in India were up 61 per cent.
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