JSW Energy will launch its first electric car by 2020, along with its own energy storage and charging infrastructure, as the power arm of billionaire Sajjan Jindal-led group joins the race led by Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc.
JSW Energy’s board approved its plan to manufacture electric vehicles, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Prashant Jain told BloombergQuint. The car will have nearly 50-60 percent localisation, he said.
The JSW Group subsidiary is looking at various states across the country for setting up manufacturing facilities.
It will invest up to Rs 4,000 crore into the electric car project through a mix of debt and equity, said Jain. The company will raise around Rs 1,500 crore via equity, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government plans to make all cars in India electric by 2032. And it has incentivised local production. Electric vehicles will be taxed at 12 percent under the new nationwide levy.
That compares with the highest 28 percent Goods and Services Tax and an additional cess, depending on size and engine capacity, for all other cars.
Electric vehicles are the new frontier for JSW Group and the time is ripe for the group to follow the likes of Tesla, Jindal had told BloombergQuint’s Menaka Doshi on the sidelines of the World Economic Form at Davos in January.
While he will focus on cars, his son, Parth will look to set up a joint venture to build a electric two-wheeler, which should be ready for production before 2020, he had said.
JSW Energy’s Jain said the electric vehicle category is at an inflection point and the company’s products will be designed exclusively for Indian consumers with the ‘Make in India and Make for India’ vision.
(This article was first published on BloombergQuint and has been republished with permission.)
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