The JSW Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Odisha to set up an integrated electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing plant at Cuttack. The investment is estimated at Rs 40,000 crore and will help generate employment for 11,000 people.
The MoU comes around two weeks after the Competition Commission of India gave its go-ahead for JSW's proposed acquisition of up to a 38 percent stake in MG Motor India.
The company also mentioned that it has chosen Paradip as the site for setting up a copper smelter and lithium refinery. The JSW Group's mega project not only marks Odisha's entry into the automobile manufacturing sector but also the largest automotive industry investment in the state as well as the eastern part of India.
Odisha offers a high level of incentives for manufacturing EVs, including 30 percent capital investment subsidy with no upper cap, 100 percent exemption from electricity duty, Rs 2 per unit power subsidy for a 10-year period, 50 percent incentive for environment-friendly infrastructure and 100 percent reimbursement of SGST paid.
As per VAHAN data as of December 2023, in terms of EV ownership, Odisha had over 81,000 EVs on its roads. These include 70,813 e-two-wheelers, 8,369 e-three-wheelers, 1,860 passenger vehicles and 51 electric buses.
JSW promoting EVs among employees
In December 2021, in a first-of-its-kind initiative, the JSW Group had unveiled the JSW EV Policy for its employees across India, which gave all Group employees up to Rs 3,00,000 incentive to purchase electric vehicles – four-wheelers as well as two-wheelers. Apart from financial incentives, free-of-cost dedicated charging stations and green zones (parking slots) for EVs would be provided at all JSW offices for employees.
Hormazd Sorabjee
Anurag Chaturvedi
