Parth Jindal: JSW MG Motor venture aims to bring sub-$25,000 plug-in hybrids to India

They also discussed plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid vehicle in India at under $25,000.

"We are extremely honoured that SAIC and MG Motor India selected JSW as a partner. My father has always dreamt of building a car. Earlier, when the internal combustion engine system was the predominant system in automobiles, there were a lot of barriers to entry." Jindal said.

Chaba: Frankly, it looks like an incredible partnership and the way we hit it off since last few months, it really proves the point that the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts. I think joining of these two giants creates a very different kind of an alchemy of superpower in my opinion. So it's more than the money, more than synergy, it's probably the chemistry which is important. And I think both sides are very excited and we are also very lucky and fortunate to have JSW as a partner. So now as Mr. Jindal said his dream is to do a lot in this country. He talked about Aatmanirbharta and backward integration. So, Parth and JSW family wants to get into cell manufacturing, which was frankly very difficult for our country. They want to get into cell manufacturing, they want to get into parts manufacturing, which will hopefully reduce the cost of inputs, and we should be able to provide EVs at a very affordable price.

Our vision is to bring EVs at price parity with ICE in the shortest possible time. And that's what frankly, is our motivator and reason for excitement.

Jindal: Apart from JSW’s 35% we have an Indian financial investor who is picking up 8% in the venture and the dealers of MG India and the employees are picking up another 8%. So, a total 51% of the company will be owned by Indians. The total investment that we are making is to the tune of ₹5,000 crore into the venture.

Jindal: The total investment into the venture is ₹5,000 crore.

Chaba: That's a good question. When we talk about new energy vehicles, the progress in innovation is huge right now and when we talk about hybrids it's like saying steel.

In steel, you have lots of categories of steel. So in hybrid also, it starts with mild hybrid, strong hybrid. Within a strong hybrid, you have a series and parallel a lot of kind of configurations to give you the best output in that configuration. And then there's a plug in hybrid, which is closest to the EV.

So for our country, as Mr. Jindal also announced frankly, it makes a lot of sense that till consumers has got this anxiety about the range, battery management and things like that plug in hybrid can suit the requirements of a country in a big way where you don't have to bother about the charging point next available. 80% of the time you are driving the car has EV and if you run short of charge, you can run it on petrol. So that plug in hybrid, frankly is going to be revolutionary for our country we feel strongly and our discussion right now is how do we bring that very costly technology at an affordable price to our country, and that's what we are focusing on right now.

Jindal: I would like to add to this point. Currently, in India, plug in hybrid technology does not exist in the same form as which we are talking about. What we are seeing is a plug in hybrid will have a battery which has a range of at least 150 kilometers and have an engine as well. So, as India is transitioning from ICE to EVs, there will be a period of time where the charging infrastructure will develop. In this period of time, we feel that in order to cater to the end customer who has range anxiety, this is the most and the best technology available today.

This product has been extremely successful in other parts of Asia and commands a huge market share in the largest auto market in the world which is China and all under $25,000 and that is our aim. Our aim is to bring this plug in hybrid technology under $25,000 into the Indian market and we are hopeful that we will be able to get a favorable tax support from the government of India.