The JSW group is not droping out its proposed Rs 40,000 crore electric vehicle (EV) and battery project from Odisha, a senior company bureaucrat said.
The news from the company follows media reports indicating that the JSW group intends to relocate its electric vehicle and battery project from the eastern state to Maharashtra.
“We are not withdrawing from Odisha,” stated Ranjan Nayak, executive vice president of corporate strategy, office of the chairman and managing director, in response to a question regarding media claims.
On February 10, 2024, the JSW group and the Odisha government signed a memorandum of understanding for the creation of an integrated electric vehicle and EV battery manufacturing plant in the state, with a planned investment of Rs 40,000 crore.
The JSW group intended to build an EV car and component manufacturing plant at Naraj in the Cuttack district, and a copper smelter and lithium refinery at Paradip in the Jagatsinghpur district.
A 50 GWH EV battery facility, an EV, a lithium refinery, a copper smelter, and other component production units make up the project.
The group’s ambitious electric vehicle and component manufacturing projects received approval from the state cabinet, leading to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.
Odisha Industries Minister Sampad Swain stated that the state government was in talks with the JSW group for the implementation of the EV project in the state, in response to media claims that the company was intending to move its project to Maharashtra.
As per Swain, the plans of the corporation as ‘reported’ in the media were unknown to the state government.
Despite the fact that an agreement was reached in February of this year, the previous administration did not allot land for the JSW project. We are now in discussions with the corporation to set up its factories. We do not know anything about the factory being moved out of Odisha. But the project’s implementation is taking longer than expected,” Swain said over the phone.
According to the minister, the new BJP government has drawn investments of Rs 45,000 crore in a variety of industries, including steel pipes, chemicals, and semiconductors, in its first 100 days of office.
“The government is serious about rapid industrialisation of the state,” stated Swain.
