INDIAN companies have decided that the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, “recognised as the greatest horticultural Show in the world”, is the ideal location for them to invest and show off their wares.
Leading the way is Range Rover, the headline sponsor at this year’s show.
The Range Rover brand and its parent company, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), are wholly owned by the Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, Tata Motors. Tata purchased the company from Ford in 2008 and has since operated it as a luxury automotive subsidiary.
Range Rover is displaying its first Range Rover Electric, painted in elegant ‘Belgravia Green’, in a garden called the ‘Range Rover Cloister’.
Another Indian company involved at Chelsea this year is the IT firm, Tech Mahindra, which has sponsored a balcony garden, ‘Hedgerow in the Sky’.
Tech Mahindra’s CEO and managing director, Mohit Joshi, who visited Chelsea last year, liked what he saw and decided it was the perfect place to sponsor a garden.
Indian street food stall at RHS Chelsea Flower ShowAmit Roy
He then commissioned Sarah Mayfield and Monika Greenhough to design it. The garden won a gold medal in the balcony gardens category at this year’s show.
On Tuesday (19), Joshi invited his clients to view the garden, followed by dinner at Tapas by celebrated chef José Pizarro at the Sloane Restaurant, located within the Chelsea Flower Show.
The next few years will probably see a flood of Indian companies coming into Chelsea.
In 2023, Eastern Eye, with collaboration from the Royal Horticultural Society, had a ‘Garden of Unity’ at the flower show. It was located prominently on the Main Avenue where this year Francis Tophill has designed The RHS and The King’s Foundation Curious Garden, in partnership with the foundation’s ambassadors, Alan Titchmarsh and Sir David Beckham.
Highgrove shop at RHS Chelsea Flower ShowAmit Roy
It has a lovely, country garden look, with flowers on one side and vegetables on the other.
King Charles and Queen Camilla, who visited Chelsea on Monday (18), would have noticed the monarch’s message displayed at the entrance to the Highgrove Shop – “a garden which delights the eye warms the heart and feeds the soul”.
The RHS is trying to get more British Asians to take up gardening and become its members.
The decision for Range Rover to become headline sponsor at Chelsea was almost certainly taken at the highest level at Tata Motors.
The current CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, the parent company of Range Rover, is PB Balaji. He officially took over the role in November 2025, succeeding Adrian Mardell. Prior to his appointment, Balaji served as the group chief financial officer for Tata Motors.
Meticulous planning went into putting together the Range Rover Cloister, which was designed by Alexandra Noble.
Sarah Mayfield and Monika Greenhough with the Tech Mahindra Hedgerow in the Sky balcony garden Amit Roy
She told Eastern Eye: “The idea is that it’s a very immersive space so that as you walk through, you are surrounded by these Hornbeam columns that are three metres tall. They have beautiful green leaves – good for pollinators. Then we’ve got Amelanchier trees, six or seven metres tall, stone paving, timber backdrop, and two water features, one under the car. We’ve got a really beautiful palette, full of flowers, creating a tranquil effect.”
As a nice touch, Range Rover is giving away the plant list on a card, embedded with seeds, which can be buried in the garden.
A Range Rover source at Chelsea explained: “This is the first preview of the Range Rover Electric that will be available later this year. We saw Chelsea as the fitting partnership to celebrate that launch. With the new CEO, PB Balaji, coming in from the Tata group, there’s a real momentum now behind electrification.
“There’s lot of investment and development in future car technologies. We wanted to showcase the vehicle and the brand in a very different way, something environmentally friendly, more green, and the sustainable angle within the Chelsea Flower Show.
RHS and The King's Trust Foundation Curious GardenAmit Roy
“There were lots of debates on what colour the car should be. It’s green on green. It’s ‘Belgravia Green’. Working with Alex, our designer, we wanted to craft a garden around the car, rather than doing a garden and plonking a car in the middle.
“You will see the car is actually sitting on a bed of water so you see the reflection. It’s all about the calm sanctuary when you’re driving in a Range Rover. It’s a real feeling of inner peace. We wanted the garden to encapsulate that as you go through it.
“There are a lot of external factors at play at the moment (because of the Iran war). We absolutely need to make sure that it’s on a sustainable footing for now and the future. Offering an electric variant of every one of our models across the brands is an important step. You want to create and feed the consumer demand that’s growing for electric (vehicles) and sustainability. Maybe Range Rover will sponsor a garden at Chelsea in the future.”
“This is the first edition, one of the few that will be available to customers by the end of the year. The basic model will start from £120,000, but the one you are looking at is £140,000. It’s a first edition with special features.” In the RHS Chelsea Flower Show guide, Range Rover sets out the economic logic that may also tempt other Indian companies: “For more than a century, RHS Chelsea has sent the benchmark for horticultural creativity and culture, celebrating the beauty and innovation that define British design. At Range Rover, these principles sit at the heart of our modern luxury philosophy – expressed through reductive design, material integrity and a calm, confident approach to contemporary design.”
Range Rover electricAmit Roy
After the Chelsea Flower Show ends, the Range Rover Cloister “will be donated and relocated to St Cecilia’s Care Home in Bromley to support health and welfare charity, Leonard Cheshire, so that their residents can enjoy the key elements of the garden for years to come”. And the Tech Mahindra balcony garden “will be relocated to a city centre nursery and after-school club in Brighton, East Sussex”.
Incidentally, for visitors to Chelsea this year, there is a van selling Indian street food. Spicy fries offer wise investment at £5.95.
