Ford's sale of Land Rover and Jaguar to Tata, the Indian conglomerate, could be finalised as soon as tomorrow and fetch upwards of $2 billion (£1 billion).

TV reports in India suggest the price for the British-based luxury marques will be $2.65 billion, while senior tax advisors working on the deal would confirm only that the deal will fetch "at least $2bn".

The final sums involved are likely to be significantly more, however, after factoring in Ford's contribution to pension scheme deficits and its commitment to supply expensive engine and transmission systems to Tata for years to come.

It is understood that Tata has raised about $3 billion to fund the deal, including cash to cover working capital requirements.

It is also understood that Land Rover and Jaguar employees will be briefed on their futures soon after returning to work following the Easter break.

Tata has agreed to keep intact the three manufacturing facilities at Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Halewood, where Ford employs 13,500 people.

Unions have been informed that there will be no redundancies.

Ford will hope that a sale of the profitable Land Rover and the loss-making Jaguar will draw a line under a painful period.

It put the two divisions up for sale last year after posting a $12.6 billion loss, the largest in its 103-year history.

Last year, Tata, whose interests run from tea plantations to IT outsourcing, confirmed its global status by buying the Anglo Dutch steelmaker Corus for £6.2 billion.

Its international buying spree has also included Tetley, the tea maker, Daewoo's commercial vehicle arm and the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Boston.

Winning the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, however, would open a radical new chapter in the company's history.

Although Tata's trucks dominate the highways of India and the company has made passenger cars since 1991, acquiring the marques would represent a foray into uncharted luxury territory.

Ratan Tata, the chairman, has acknowledged the image disparity that Tata would face in owning two of the industry's most esteemed brands while producing what it claims will be the world's cheapest automobile, the one-lakh Nano — a lakh is 100,000 rupees (£1,200) — which was unveiled this year.

But he has brushed aside concerns suggesting that Tata is merely emulating proven strategies.

"Toyota created Lexus, Nissan has Infiniti," he recently told The Times

"No one is saying, 'How can BMW handle the Mini?' but they've made a huge success of it. So why is it impossible?"

Ford, which has also been in talks with the Government over the future of Jaguar and Land Rover, said in November that it expected to wrap up a sale early this year.

It is under pressure to pay down its debt mountain, which Fitch, the ratings agency, estimates has grown by more than $21 billion since 2001.

Tata and Ford refused to elaborate on the state of their talks.

Both sides have said that they have been pleased with the progress of the negotiations since Tata was named preferred bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover in January.

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