JSW may buy Ford’s shut Chennai plant

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : The Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group is in advanced talks to acquire the shuttered Chennai factory of Ford Motor Co. for its planned entry into electric-vehicle (EV) space, two people aware of the matter said. “Talks started a couple of months earlier and are in an advanced stage now, and the company is speaking to both the state government and Ford," one of the persons said on condition of anonymity.

Spread over 350 acres, the Ford factory has an annual production capacity of around 200,000 vehicles and 340,000 engines. The plant has been shut since July 2022. The Tamil Nadu government is also keen that it finds a new owner who can restart production.

In September 2021, Ford decided to close its operations in India and wind down vehicle assembly, both in Sanand, Gujarat, and in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. While Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd completed the acquisition of Sanand plant for ₹725.7 crore this January, the Chennai unit is yet to find a buyer. The development comes at a time when the JSW Group has intensified attempts to enter the automobile sector, including acquiring a stake in MG Motor India Pvt.

Ltd, a subsidiary of China’s SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. “Not just buying stake in MG Motor, the group is clearly researching to understand EV manufacturing, and the top management also visited China to understand the market," the second person said, also on condition of anonymity.

On Friday, Jindal said in a television interview that the group, apart from ongoing talks with MG Motor India, is also working on a parallel plan to make its own EVs. If talks with Ford bear fruit, the Chennai plant could become an integral part of that plan. A spokesperson for the JSW Group said it was evaluating several opportunities.