Tata Group, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover is likely to select the UK as the preferred location for its electric vehicles (EV) battery plant.
The company is said to be settling for Somerset over another site in Spain to build its new multibillion-pound battery EV plant, reported the BBC.
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According to sources close to the matter, the parties have entered into the drafting stage following various negotiations. No agreement has been signed as of yet.
A deal is expected to be finalised as soon as next week when Tata’s chair will reportedly meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London.
If finalised, the investment is expected to be a major boost in bringing more EV battery manufacturing facilities to the UK.
The proposed gigafactory would be situated at the 635-acre Gravity business park, which is currently under construction near the M5 motorway at Puriton.
The factory is projected to produce up to 9,000 jobs at the site that is located near Bridgwater.
During the British Chambers of Commerce’s recently held annual conference, UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt was quoted as saying that: “We need to have battery-making capacity in the UK.
“All I would say is, watch this space, because we are very focused on making sure the UK gets that EV manufacturing capacity.”
In the UK, Tata Steel owns the country’s largest steelworks at Port Talbot in South Wales and employs approximately 8,000 people.
