The owner of Jaguar Land Rover is reportedly close to choosing Somerset as the base for a new multi-billion pound electric car battery plant - which could create up to 9,000 jobs.
The chairman of Tata Group is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the middle of next week to finalise a deal, according to BBC News.
The report added that sources familiar with the matter said an agreement has not yet been signed but engagement has taken a step forward, as talks have moved on to the draft stage.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last week hinted the deal could be imminent, saying: “All I would say is watch this space because we are very focused on making sure the UK gets that EV manufacturing capacity.”
Tata was believed to be considering whether to locate the plant at the Gravity business park near Bridgwater or at another site in Spain,
A spokesperson for Tata declined to comment on the reports.
JLR has previously been reported to have been in talks to build a giant gigafactory in Somerset.
In 2021, Government ministers were in discussions with Amazon-backed California electric vehicle firm Rivian. BusinessLive reported a large group of representatives from Rivian visited the Gravity site in September 2021. Former Prime minister Boris Johnson was also understood to have been closely involved in attempts to woo Rivian’s management.
BusinessLive exclusively revealed a month earlier the deal was "hanging in the balance" over the financial incentives Britain could offer. It was understood that one way to unlock it could have been to provide the Bristol region with freeport status, which it lost out on in March 2021.
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