JSW Chief Says Battery Cells Will Replace Crude Oil as India Pushes for Local EV Tech

Battery cells will act as the upcoming fuel oil for India as vehicles move away from traditional engines and towards electric options, according to JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal. The country relies heavily on foreign crude oil for transportation, and while moving to electric vehicles can cut this reliance, it risks creating a new dependency on imported battery parts and raw materials. Jindal made these remarks during the launch of Ampstar, the new electric commercial vehicle brand from JSW Greentech, where the company also displayed an electric bus along with a heavy electric tractor-trailer weighing fifty-five tonnes.

Local Production Plans

The newly revealed vehicles run on a platform that JSW Greentech claims to manage fully, though the battery cells will come from abroad at first. The firm will put together battery packs at a fresh production plant located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar within Maharashtra. Another division within the JSW Group is actively trying to build local battery cell technology, though Sajjan Jindal noted that creating a domestic option will require some time. He stated that the group is testing multiple battery types, such as lithium-ion and sodium-ion options, and expects the local technology development to take between one and two years. He also pointed out that China holds a massive advantage in manufacturing and technical knowledge for these cells, noting that while China is willing to sell the physical cells, the underlying technical know-how is kept as a strict secret.

Engineering and Research Focus

JSW Greentech aims to keep full command over its vehicle layout, software, battery pack blueprint, and vehicle control unit while partnering with outside vendors for specific parts. Out of the first one hundred staff members hired by the firm, eighty-eight work directly in research and development. The business created its vehicle control code and control unit domestically, meaning it owes no royalty payments for its main vehicle framework. Jindal explained that the company plans to first catch up with existing methods used in China before moving ahead with original breakthroughs of its own. For now, building battery packs locally serves as the immediate goal for the group, while making the actual cells within the country will decide how much of the electric vehicle supply chain stays local in the long run.