The Indian industrial giant Tata is considering the possibility of installing a battery factory for electric cars either in Spain, around the Zaragoza town of Zuera, or in the United Kingdom. In Europe, according to a dispatch from the British news agency Reuters, the factory would be a supplier of vehicles for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, owned by the Asian multinational. Tata has plants to assemble models of these companies in the United Kingdom and in Slovakia.
Tata Automobile Division
The Tata automobile division, reports Reuters, informed the Spanish government in the last months of last year that it was studying carrying out its plans to locate a battery factory in one of the two aforementioned countries and, without identifying the source, attributes the person responsible Tata Motors financial obtaining the information. When mentioning the Spanish candidacy, the news agency talks specifically about Zuera. The Government of Aragon did not make statements.
Reuters points out that Indian and British directors of the Tata group participated in meetings with representatives of the Governments of Spain and Aragon and that they visited the possible location of the future factory near Zaragoza. From the Jaguar and Land Rover business unit, a subsidiary of Tata, declined to comment, adds the news agency dispatch.
Zuera was one of the locations that the Volkswagen group studied to install a gigafactory of batteries for electric vehicles last year, a project that in the end decided to materialize in Sagunto (Valencia), dashing the aspirations of several autonomous communities, including Aragon, and which will have strong support in European funds from the Perte (Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation) of the electric and connected vehicle.
In the case of the Tata Motors project to install a battery factory on European soil, Reuters information highlights the Indian group’s interest in accelerating its commitment to electricity and the opportunities offered today by Spain, the second largest car producer in Europe, with the granting of European aid through the Perte.
A Multinational With Previous Experience in Aragon
The Indian group Tata is well known in the industrial field in Aragon, where it burst into force in the first years of the century, first in Hispano Carrocera and later in companies such as Serviplem and Comoplesa Lebrero, all three closed today.
Tata acquired 21% of Hispano in 2003 with a purchase option for the remaining 79% that materialized in 2009. Manchi V. Raja Rao was the general manager of the bus body manufacturer after taking over from Gerardo Múgica, a member of the Mexican family owner until then. Raja Rao announced in 2013 the closure of the factory, located in La Cartuja Baja, after recording large losses in recent years.
In 2008, Telcon, a subsidiary of Tata, acquired 79% of Serviplem Baryval, a manufacturer of concrete mixers in the Malpica industrial estate. The Indian group joined with the Japanese Hitachi to manage the company, a joint venture called Tata Hitachi Construction, which closed in 2016. The Aragonese Comoplesa Lebrero was also bought by Telcon in 2008. This company closed in 2014.
This article is originally published on heraldo.es