Tatas plan mega chip factory in Gujarat; work on Li-Ion battery plant to start in March

The Tata Group has lined up major investments in Gujarat, including the building of a 20 GW Lithium-Ion factory and a semi-conductor fabrication unit, to be built in Dholers, Tata Group CEO Natarajan Chandrasekharan said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Global Vibrant Meet in Gandhinagar, the Tata Group CEO said the group is in the final stages of wrapping up negotiations and will soon announce details of the proposed Semiconductor factory. 

He said construction of the lithium-Ion battery project, which is part of Tata Motors’ ambitious electric vehicle plans, committing billions of dollars in electric vehicle manufacturing in India.

Tata Group subsidiary Agratas Energy Storage Solutions Pvt Ltd has committed Rs13,000 crore investment in setting up of lithium-ion battery manufacturing unit. 

“The Tata Group has also made a commitment and it is on the verge of concluding and announcing a huge semiconductor roadmap in Dholera. We are about to complete these negotiations and start in 2024,” he said.

Chandrasekaran said the continuing steady and spectacular progress of Gujarat clearly demonstrates the “visionary leadership and the mindset” of the prime minister.

“Sanand is becoming home to all our electric vehicle technology. We have expanded the footprint with additional capacity so that we can meet the growing demand for electric vehicles. We concluded and are about to launch the building of a huge giga factory for 20GW of lithium-ion batteries in Sanand. The project should start construction in the next couple of months,” he added.

Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, the EV arm of Tata Motors, completed the acquisition of Ford India's Sanand plant last year. The plant has a capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles annually, which can be scaled up to 420,000 units, thereby creating ample capacity to cater to future capacity requirements.

Chandrashekaran said the Tata Group has its roots in Gujarat, having its origin in Navsari, the birthplace of its founder Jamshedji Tata.

The Tata Group started off in Gujarat with Tata Chemicals in 1939. Today 21 of the group companies, including Tata Power, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy, Tata Advanced Systems, Tata Steel and the retail companies, have a very strong presence in the state, he pointed out.

“We also are building the C295 defence aircraft initially in Vadodara and then in Dholera and that work is going on in full swing,” Chandrasekaran added.