JLR to generate 4,500 jobs in UK

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Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover plans to generate 4,500 manufacturing and engineering jobs here over next five years, JLR executive director Mike Wright has said.

"We are investing in products. In the next 5 years, we will generate 2,500 manufacturing jobs and 2,000 engineering jobs," Wright said at CII-CBI India conference on India-UK Partnership on reviving economic growth held here on Thursday.

Describing JLR as the largest employer in the UK in the automotive sector, Wright said, "Our business plan is to grow significantly. We are now a global player with 85 per cent of our revenue coming from exports."

He said Germany was JLR's competitor and "we have to have a talent pool with global expertise and we have to concentrate on innovation."

India's High Commissioner to the UK Jaimini Bhagwati said there are not too many destinations for investment which are better than India.

On the criticism that Indian immigrants are taking away jobs from local citizens, Bhagwati said, "The amount of employment generated by Indian companies are far more than the jobs taken by Indian immigrants."

Indian industry participants at the event included Bharti Enterprises vice-chairman and managing director Rakesh Bharti Mittal, NIIT chairman Rajendra Pawar and Hero MotoCoro joint managing director Sunil Munjal.

Mittal outlined India's growth in the telecom sector saying that the country has 950 million telephones, of which 920 million have mobile phones.

The mobile tariffs in India are the lowest in the world, he added. Mittal said despite challenges, Bharti Airtel has emerged as the fourth largest telecom company in the world, with operations in 17 countries including Africa.

He asked investors to be 'positive' in their attitude while investing in India. On the need to create more manufacturing jobs in India, Munjal said, "We are going to see the largest migration from rural to urban areas in India in the next 30 years and we have to create jobs in the manufacturing sector."

Rajiv Lall, vice-chairman and managing director, IDFC Ltd said, "This is the time to invest in India and those who plan to invest must have a long-term perspective."

Escorts chairman and managing director Rajan Nanda said, "India is the country with the largest number of entrepreneurs and we are competitive."

Pawar, meanwhile, talked about the greater role that Indian industry is playing in corporate social responsibility. "The number of (charity) foundations coming up in India is remarkable," he added.