BHUBANESWAR: Amid speculations over JSW Group shifting its proposed electric vehicle (EV) project from Odisha to Maharashtra, the Sajjan Jindal-led company on Tuesday said it was not withdrawing from the state.
Executive vice-president (corporate strategy) of JSW Steel Ranjan Nayak said the speculations and reports in a section of media are not correct. “The proposed Rs 40,000 crore EV and battery manufacturing project is not shifting out of Odisha,” he told The New Indian Express.
Minister for Industries Sampad Chandra Swain also clarified that the company has not informed the state government anything about its relocation plan. “We have no information that JSW’s EV project is moving out of the state. The MoU for the project was signed by the previous government in February,” he said.
Acknowledging that grounding of some investments take time due to delay in getting statutory clearances, the minister said, the government is in discussion with the company authorities for taking the project forward.
In February, JSW signed an MoU with the Odisha government for an integrated EV and components manufacturing project in the state at an investment of Rs 40,000 crore. JSW proposed to invest Rs 25,000 crore for an EV, battery and EV components manufacturing unit at Naraj in Cuttack and Rs 15,000 crore for copper smelter and lithium refinery complex at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur.
The government had also announced a special package of incentives for the project including land at special concessional rate and external infrastructure from 20 per cent extra capital investment subsidy.
The cloud of uncertainty over the project, however, arose after the Maharashtra government cleared the proposals of JSW Green Mobility Ltd and JSW Energy PS Eleven Ltd for electric and hybrid cars manufacturing and lithium battery units with a proposed investment of Rs 27,200 crore and Rs 25,000 crore, respectively in July.
It led to confusion in the industry and political circles in the state as there was no engagement by officials from the government with JSW to provide any clarity.
Although already seven months have passed since the MoU was signed, sources said, the company has not been allotted land for the project yet.
Sources said the land identified for the project at Naraj in Cuttack district was earlier allotted to Tata Power (TP) for a power plant. However, TP had to withdraw due to resistance from land losers who are seeking a hike in compensation and the matter is sub-judice.
Industries department officials, though, said the project was discussed in the state project monitoring group (SPMG) meeting chaired by chief secretary Manoj Ahuja on August 6. “It has been decided to start construction of a boundary wall around the land identified at Naraj,” said an official.