Jindal-owned JSW plans to produce EVs in Rs 40,000 cr investment push

Sajjan Jindal keen to produce Made in India electric car/CVs

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Billionaire Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW group is planning to set up an electric vehicle (EV) venture in Odisha that would include producing electric commercial vehicles (CVs) and passenger cars and a battery storage plant. The investment of Rs 40,000 crore, spread over the next few years, will be the largest investment in an electric vehicle capacity in India so far.

The project will be a separate initiative from the joint venture planned by the group in association with SAIC Motor Corp in which the group has picked up a 35 per cent stake. SAIC currently operates MG Motor India which is selling two electric cars in the Indian markets. MG Motor has a plant in Halol in Gujarat which manufactures both EVs and internal combustion engine cars. None of the listed JSW group's listed companies are participating in the electric vehicle project.

"We aim to revolutionise the automotive industry by producing high-quality batteries and electric vehicles which are not only affordable but also technologically advanced," Sajjan Jindal said in an emailed statement to this paper.

"We will focus on high-end research to produce “designed by and for Indians” and we seek to redefine the way people commute and power their lives by enhancing EV penetration," Jindal said.

According to industry estimates, the price difference between electric cars and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is almost 30 per cent. The group plans to bring down EV cars on par with the combustion engine cars, said a source in the group. The cars would be priced at around Rs 20 lakh. 

China has sold 10 million EVs, whereas, India has sold around 0.1 million. As per Jindal, China has set up a 2,000 gigawatt (GW) battery plant and till now India has not set up one GW plant. "We seek to redefine the way people commute and power their lives by enhancing EV penetration," Jindal said.

As per the plan, Jindal would set up a 50 GWh battery plant for both mobility and energy storage systems, a commercial e-vehicles plant to produce 100,000 vehicles a year, and a passenger electric car plant with 300,000 cars making capacity. The group will also set up an auto component manufacturing plant for e-power train production.

The group is also keen on a lithium-ion with a 60,000 tonnes per annum capacity. In a separate venture, the group will also invest in a copper production plant.

"We aim to revolutionise the automotive industry by producing high-quality batteries and electric vehicles which are not only affordable but also technologically advanced. Our total investment will be around Rs.40,000 crore in phases with employment potential of around 11,000 jobs," he said.

A JSW group official had earlier said the Indian automobile market is not a "winner takes it all" market and there is a lot of potential for new entrants in the electric vehicles market. "We believe that there is a space for an entrant like us. And we think being an EV-first platform will be what defines us," a group official said.

"The electric vehicle revolution has already begun in a small way but more in two-wheelers than in the four-wheeler segment. But we think that the four-wheeler change is going to be very quick, and very fast like it happened in the US and China," the official added.

Interestingly, since the early 2000s, it has always been a dream of 64-year-old Sajjan Jindal to produce cars in India. The group had even set up a unit under electricity producer JSW Energy in 2017 to produce electric cars but had to abandon the plan after objections from shareholders.

Jindal Investment Blueprint

Commercial e-vehicles with a capacity of 100,000 per annum

Passenger electric car plant with a capacity of  300,000, auto-components like e-powertrain

50 Gwh Battery plant for both mobility, energy storage system

Copper smelter plant with 1-mtpa capacity 

Lithium ion plant with  capacity of 60,000 tpa