JSW Group may acquire Ford Motor's Chennai plant to manufacture EVs: Report

The talks to acquire the Ford plant in Chennai started a couple of months ago and are now in an advanced stage, a report said on Wednesday

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group is in talks to acquire the Chennai factory of Ford Motor Co, which has been closed since July last year, Mint reported on Wednesday. JSW is expected to use the factory to make electric vehicles (EVs) ahead of its planned entry into the EV market.

Last week, Jindal said that JSW Group is in talks with MG Motor India to enter the EV space in India. He added that at the same time, the company is also working on a parallel plan to make its own EVs.

"We are extremely serious about entering the EV space. MG would be our preferred choice. If it happens, otherwise we are also working parallelly to develop our own EV cars," he said on the sidelines of B20 Summit India 2023.

According to a person aware of the matter cited in the Mint report, the talks to acquire the Ford plant started a couple of months ago and are now in an advanced stage. JSW has been in touch with the Tamil Nadu state government as well as Ford.

In September 2021, Ford decided it would wind up its operations in India and also close vehicle assembly at two of its plants, one in Sanand and the other in Chennai.

Tata Passenger Electric Mobility acquired the Sanand plant in January for Rs 725.7 crore. The Chennai plant, however, has been shut since July 2022.

Spread over 350 acres, the factory has an annual production capacity of around 200,000 vehicles and 340,000 engines. The report added that the state government is also keen to find a new owner who can restart production.