JSW Energy Ltd., part of Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group has announced its decision to enter into the emerging area of electric vehicles with a capital investment plan of ₹3,500 crore to ₹4,000 crore in three years.
The board on Friday approved the company’s entry into the business of manufacturing of electric vehicles, electrical battery, energy storage systems and charging infrastructure.
“The Indian automobile industry is at an inflection point in terms of growth in overall market size and a level playing field has been made available to new entrants due to disruption by electric vehicle technology,” said a company statement.
“JSW Energy seeks to participate in this revolutionary market opportunity and is planning to launch its own electric vehicle by 2020 with a vision of ‘Make in India and Make for India’.”
“This is a good move as this sector offers vast opportunities for growth,” said Abdul Majeed, partner and leader, Auto Sector, PwC. “However, to address the challenges is the key to success.”
On electric vehicles, JSW Group chairman and MD Sajjan Jindal had recently said, “We are working on this project. It is new technology and I am hopeful that the product will be in the market by 2020.”
JSW Energy said it will bring world class products suitable to Indian conditions satisfying Indian customer needs.
“Our strategy is aligned with Government of India’s vision to make all cars electric by 2032, which will ease pressure on the economy of our country by reducing fuel import bill,” the company added.
The company said since the energy space is evolving continuously with energy storage systems and charging infrastructure representing the next stage of evolution, it would like to remain ahead of the curve and leapfrog the current trends to capitalise on these new opportunities and create a new growth dynamic for itself.
As part of this, JSW Energy said it would facilitate creation of charging infrastructure and necessary ecosystem for faster penetration of electric vehicles in India.
“India has huge opportunity for energy storage systems not only for electric vehicles but for other static applications such as telecom, micro grids, solar storage system for household and power banks. JSW Energy plans to enter into energy storage systems business for both in static and mobility applications as it will be forward integration of its existing business of power generation to distribution,” it added.
This business will be led by JSW Energy Joint MD and CEO Prashant Jain. It is still not clear whether the company would tie up with Tesla in this venture to fast track the project.
