Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM), a subsidiary of Tata Motors, has announced the start of production of passenger vehicles from its new factory in Sanand, Gujarat. This event marked the roll-out of the first Tata-branded car from this facility, in the presence of TPEM Managing Director, Shailesh Chandra and the leadership team from the Passenger and Electric vehicles businesses.
Commenting on this occasion, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited & Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said, “Witnessing the first car roll out of the new TPEM facility in Sanand is a proud moment for us. We have successfully retooled the factory in the shortest span of 12 months, taking it to a new level to accommodate a wide range of existing products and future new models to come.”
He further added,” Tata Motors Passenger & Electric Vehicles business has delivered market-beating growth over the last few years. We have strong plans to sustain this momentum, with our robust pipeline of future-ready “New Forever” products and proactive investments in electric vehicles. With existing capacities near saturation, 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.”
Situated in the industrial hub, this new facility was acquired from Ford India, on January 10, 2023. Spread across 460 acres, it will be Tata Motors’ second plant in Gujarat to manufacture ICE and EV models. The plant houses four main shops – Stamping, Body construction, Paint and Final assembly shop.
Major retooling and tech upgrades include:
- Press shop – New dies for stamping critical skin panels
- Weld shop – Modification of all lines with additional robots, new grippers and fixtures have been added
- Paint shop – Modification of handling systems, external robot programming, internal robotic painting and waxing set-up
- Assembly shop – Modification of handling systems and end-of-line system
The plant currently has more than 1000 employees (including staff and technicians) and will create 1000 additional jobs in the next 3 to 4 months in the region, in line with the production ramp-up plans. Tata Motors has invested in upskilling its workforce by providing them with a Diploma, Bachelor of Engineering and Master’s Degree, as applicable.
