Hindustan Motors once again plans to resume production of automobiles from Uttarpara, the West Bengal heritage site where the Ambassador model had been manufactured for many years. The CKA Birla group-owned corporation has approached the state government requesting land to set up an electric vehicle manufacturing plant through a joint venture. Two companies are under consideration for partnership – one from Europe and one from the United States.
Two EV Manufacturing Bids for Hindustan Motors
Based on the information from the officials, there are two international players who have approached Hindustan Motors with EV manufacturing bids. One comes from Europe and the other comes from America.
However, neither of the firms has been named as yet by the company. According to HM, it will present the proposal only if the West Bengal government offers the required land at Uttarpara.
The state government has confirmed the same.
Why Uttarpara is Significant
There exists a long relationship between Hindustan Motors and Uttarpara. This is because the company established a manufacturing plant in Uttarpara which spanned about 700 acres in size, and where it manufactured the Ambassador car line for many years. The production of cars from the plant stopped indefinitely in 2014.
Later, the company sold parts of its former property, and about 395 acres were reclaimed by the state government of West Bengal in 2022 owing to the non-utilisation of the land.
After the decision of the High Court of Calcutta in favour of the state, the Supreme Court of India rejected the appeal of the company in July 2025.
This implies that the EV project proposal is subject to the willingness of the state government to allocate land for the manufacture of the cars.
Not The First Time for Hindustan Motors To Propose EV Manufacturing Plant
It is important to note that this is not the first time that Hindustan Motors has proposed such an EV manufacturing plant in Uttarpara. In 2022, there was an agreement between Hindustan Motors and a European manufacturing company for an EV plant in the same location. However, the deal was cancelled when the land was reclaimed by the state.
Initially, the plan was to manufacture electric two wheelers in the proposed plant.
Does The Ambassador Stand A Chance Of Returning As An EV?
As mentioned above, the Uttarpara project cannot help but invoke thoughts of the Ambassador. Nevertheless, there is no information suggesting Hindustan Motors’ intentions of reviving the Ambassador model as an electric vehicle.
Also, an interesting point to make here is that Hindustan Motors sold the Ambassador brand together with its related trademarks to Peugeot in 2017, which then joined Stellantis. Thus, any potential future electric Ambassador model will need to have the corresponding trademarks.
At least for now, it is the development of an electric vehicle production line that is planned, and not some Ambassador model.
And What Comes Next?
Currently, the attention will be on the land request. In the event that the West Bengal state government gives the approval for the proposal, Hindustan Motors can go ahead and work with their chosen international partner, and come up with their manufacturing proposal.
The project is still only a proposal with the partner, capital, vehicle type, and manufacturing timeline still not revealed.
This development has, however, ensured that Uttarpara is again part of India’s automobile scene, but with electric automobiles this time rather than the petrol and diesel vehicles that were produced from the factory.