The board of the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank on Tuesday approved a pound 340 million (Rs 2,500 crore) loan to the Tatas-owned Jaguar Land Rover  to support efforts to make low-emission cars.

A JLR spokesperson said the loan would support the company's significant investments in environmental technologies that were crucial for the future (part of a total commitment of over pound 800 million, that is, Rs 5,900 crore).

In all, the board on Tuesday cleared loans worth euro 866 million to fund research and development in Europe to make cleaner vehicles. Among others, Nissan's European operations have been sanctioned a loan of euro 400 million for efforts to produce clean cars in the UK and Spain.

A JLR spokesperson said, "Access to funding is subject to a number of due diligence and commercial loan criteria, including partial backing by the UK government's guarantee scheme."

The loan to JLR comes under a scheme under which the UK government provides a guarantee for loans from EIB to the automotive sector for work to reduce emission.