JSW Energy almost doubles capex plan to Rs 6,500 crore for EV arm

Buoyed by the rising demand for electric vehicles (EV) on the back of government push, JSW Energy announced an increased capex plan of Rs 6,500 crore for the new venture, as it plans to launch electric buses and light pick-up trucks apart from cars.

Last August, the company, which has no record in the automobile space, had announced its plans to make a foray into new verticals, including electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage business and charging infrastructure.

“We’ve now decided to widen the scope of our proposed EV business by including buses and light pick-up trucks,” company’s joint MD & CEO Prashant Jain told reporters here while announcing the earnings for the March quarter and the full year.

He said the company has also decided “to increase its capital expenditure to Rs 6,500 crore, from the earlier proposed Rs 3,500-4,000 crore, to be spent over the next three to four years in the EV and associated businesses of storage battery and charging infrastructure.”

“Of this, we plan to spend Rs 1,000 crore this fiscal year itself,” he said, adding they are evaluating proposals for technology tie-ups.

JSW Energy has also appointed Sergio Rocha, a former chairman of General Motors Korea, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, as its chief operating officer of its electric vehicles project.

When asked when the first EV will be rolled out, he said, “we are hopeful that the buses will hit the market over the next two years, while the rest will take some time.”

The company already entered into an agreement with Maharashtra and Gujarat for setting up manufacturing unit for EV and energy storage systems.

Source: PTI

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