New EV policy unfit for Jaguar Land Rover: Tata Motors

The Indian government's new electric vehicle policy is unfit for Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors Group CFO P Balaji told reporters on Thursday. Balaji claims that the corporation would boost JLR's localisation as its volume increases.

“As far as JLR India's ambitions are concerned, I believe the company is expanding rapidly. We have seen a significant increase in orders after we have localised the production of Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. Thus, we would like to continue localising as much as volumes increase. And we will certainly consider that if the policy environment is something we can influence. It is not appropriate for us to implement that particular policy at this time. So, at this moment, we don't plan to take benefits of it,” says Balaji.

“In the meantime, we'll keep an eye out for chances for CKD (completely knocked down units) manufacturing to make sure we can benefit from the 15% customs duty without taking on any more duties related to localisation or bank guarantees. We also kept the multi-vendor system in place for the successful ones. Operation is more appealing at this time, considering our size and scope in India," he continues. 

The government in April unveiled a new electric vehicle (EV) policy, requiring multinational automakers to establish manufacturing facilities in India with a minimum investment of ₹4,150 crore ($500 million) over three years. Further, the policy requires the companies to achieve 50% domestic value addition (DVA) within a maximum period of five years. The policy also mentions that a five-year period of 15% customs duty would be applicable.

In the meanwhile, Tata Motors said that its net profit increased from 72.43% to ₹5,692 crore in the first quarter of FY25, compared to ₹3,301 crore in the same period last year. Moreover, the company's quarterly operating revenue increased 13% to ₹1.08 lakh crore compared to Rs 1.02 lakh crore during the same time in the previous year.

Regarding JLR, the firm had a 31% year-over-year increase in sales, with 1,371 units sold in Q1. Balaji states that the business expects some production constraints as a result of the UK factory closure and the problems with the supply chain for aluminium. By FY28, the business plans to invest ₹1.9 trillion in its JLR portfolio.