Tata
Passenger Electric Mobility Limited (TPEML), a subsidiary of Tata Motors Ltd,
and Ford India Private Limited (FIPL), have signed a Unit Transfer Agreement
(UTA) for the acquisition of FIPL’s manufacturing plant situated at Sanand,
Gujarat, which inter-alia includes:(i) entire land & buildings; (ii)
Vehicle Manufacturing Plant along with machinery and equipment situated
therein; and (iii) transfer of all eligible employees of FIPL’s vehicle
manufacturing operations at Sanand, for a total consideration, exclusive of
taxes, of Rs 725.7 Cr (Seven Hundred Twenty Five Crores and Seventy Lakhs).
FIPL
will continue to operate its Powertrain Manufacturing Facility by leasing back
the land and buildings of the Powertrain Manufacturing Plant from TPEML on
mutually agreed terms. TPEML has agreed to offer employment to the eligible
employees of FIPL’s Powertrain Manufacturing Plant in the event of FIPL’s
cessation of such operations.
The
closure of the transaction will be subject to the receipt of relevant approvals
from the government authorities and fulfilment of customary condition
precedents. The government of Gujarat, TPEML and FIPL have already executed a
tripartite MoU on 30th May 2022 to support all relevant approvals for the above
transaction.
Tata
Motors Passenger Vehicles business has delivered market beating growth over the
last few years and has strong plans to sustain this momentum, with its robust
pipeline of future ready “New Forever” products and proactive investments in
electric vehicles. With our manufacturing capacity nearing saturation, this
acquisition is timely and a win-win for all stakeholders. It will unlock a
state-of-the-art manufacturing capacity of 300,000 units per annum which is
scalable to 420,000 units per annum.
TPEML
would make the necessary investments to reconfigure the plant to adapt to Tata
Motors' existing and future vehicle platforms. The unit is adjacent to the
existing manufacturing facility of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited at
Sanand, which should help in a smooth transition.
Announcing
this, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles
Limited and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited, said, “The agreement with
FIPL signed today is beneficial to all stakeholders and reflects Tata Motors
strong aspiration to further strengthen its market position in the Passenger
Vehicles segment and to continue to build on its leadership position in the
Electric Vehicle segment. It will accelerate the growth and development of the
Indian auto industry by taking a progressive step forward towards building a
future ready Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
“Today’s
announcement marks an important step forward in Ford’s ongoing business
restructuring in India, which is part of our Ford+ plan for strategic
transformation. With the transfer of employment for eligible vehicle
manufacturing employees included in the agreement, this milestone also
highlights our best effort in caring for those impacted by the restructuring,”
said Steve Armstrong, Transformation Officer of Ford Motor Company.
“The
shared values of trust, ethics and putting people first were the driving force
behind our agreement with Tata Motors. We are confident that both the
state-of-the-art manufacturing set-up as well as the world-class talent will
continue to prosper under the new leadership and help Tata Motors to scale new
heights,” Armstrong added.