LONDON, Feb 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Indian conglomerate Tata Group announced Wednesday that its new multibillion-pound UK factory to manufacture batteries will be located in Bridgwater, south west England.

The £4 billion ($5 billion) plant in the county of Somerset, southwest England, will be Tata's first so-called gigafactory outside India.

Agratas, Tata Group's global battery business, confirmed Wednesday that the 40 GWh factory would be built at Bridgwater's Gravity Smart Campus.

The UK plant, which Tata, owner of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), announced in July, will become one of Europe's largest battery-cell manufacturing sites.

The factory is due to create up to 4,000 green-tech jobs in the area, with "many thousands" more expected to be created indirectly, Agratas said in a statement.

"Our multibillion-pound investment will bring state-of-the-art technology to Somerset, helping to supercharge Britain's transition to electric mobility whilst creating thousands of jobs in the process," Agratas CEO Tom Flack said.

Construction will take place in stages with battery production scheduled to start in 2026, the statement said.

JLR and Tata Motors will be its "first customers", it added.