JSW Group Enters Electric Trucks, Buses Market With Ampstar, Targets Rs 12,000 Crore Revenue

Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Group has launched Ampstar, a dedicated brand to manufacture and sell electric trucks and buses in India. This marks JSW Group’s entry into the heavy vehicles segment, as the company already operates JSW MG Motor India in the passenger vehicles category.

The company is investing Rs 2,500 crore in a 90-acre EV manufacturing facility at AURIC in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The facility will have a capacity of producing 15,000 per month and is expected to commence commercial operations within 30 days.

“We have already deployed around 100 units within the group in the various plants to get feedback so that we can refine our products, and as the factory picks up, we will ramp up our deployment plan over time." Parth Jindal, Chairman JSW MG Motor India, said. 

Jindal said that, based on an average heavy commercial vehicle selling price of approximately Rs 80 lakhs, the facility has the potential to generate close to Rs 12,000 crores in top-line revenue.

 Design and sourcing 

JSW Group said that the trucks and buses are engineered in-house for Indian operating conditions. The Group said that JSW Greentech has developed the core logic, software, and algorithms for the entire electric drivetrain, enabling it to tailor vehicles to specific customer requirements. The vehicle's design includes a dual-battery cooling system and a high-strength monocoque chassis, specifically designed for India's climate and road conditions.

Sumit Mittal, CEO of JSW Greentech, said that over the past 6 months, the company has achieved 50 percent localization and aims to reach 75 percent within 9 to 12 months. 

“The two components which we are dependent on outside India are primarily the LFP cells and the magnets for the motors, as the supply chain is yet to be developed in the country for these are the two components,” Mittal said. 

Mittal said that there are no technology transfers and the company owns its intellectual property entirely in-house. “We don't pay any royalty or otherwise to any company”. 

Focus on B2B sales

JSW Group will not immediately begin retail sales of the Ampstar-brand EV trucks and buses, as the company is initially focusing on Business-to-Business sales. In addition to orders from the JSW Group itself, the company will sell vehicles to public and private companies for dedicated operations such as mining and city transportation. 

For large regional fleet deployments involving 100 to 200 units, the company will establish dedicated captive maintenance depots to support operations. The company executive said that a broader retail distribution and service network will only be established once the complex commercial products are proven in the market.

The company is targeting production of 500 to 1,000 units in the first year.  The company executives said that the JSW Group alone has a requirement of 10,000 electric trucks.