India’s JSW eyes independent EV brand alongside MG JV

“Our idea is not to be an outpost of a Chinese company to sell products in India,” JSW Group Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal told The Financial Times in an interview. JSW Group plans to build its own cars at a new plant in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), a city in the western state of Maharashtra where Volkswagen Group assembles several premium and luxury models from imported knocked-down kits. “We want to manufacture the products in India, value-add in India, and sell in India,” Jindal said.

Jindal did not divulge details about the investment or models JSW Group is planning for the upcoming electric car brand during the interview. Just two weeks ago, talking about JSW Group’s big EV ambitions at the CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit, Jindal revealed that the company aims to manufacture one million cars in the next five to seven years. He hinted that he was referring to a combination of MG cars and standalone JSW models. “By 2030, let’s say, a million cars should be on the road of JSW whether it is MG or not MG, but under the JSW umbrella,” Jindal said. 

In October, JSW Group acquired 636 acres of land in the Bidkin Industrial Area (BIA) from Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC), situated 20 kilometres south of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. The company allocated 546 acres to manufacturing electric cars and 90 acres to commercial vehicles, and it began constructing the former just two days later. It plans to invest a total of 272 billion Indian rupees (approximately 3.06 billion euros) in the project.

JSW Group is one of the leading players in India’s steel industry, but unlike Tata Group and Mahindra Group, it has no prior direct experience in the auto sector. However, the company is a preferred steel product supplier in the auto sector. In March, it forayed into the auto industry by purchasing a 35% stake in SAIC Motor’s MG Motor India.

ft.com (CNBC), facebook.com (AURIC), ptinews.com via indiatimes.com