GM in talks with JSW to sell Pune car plant
AHMEDABAD/MUMBAI: General Motors Co. (GM) may completely exit India, with the US-based carmaker in advanced talks with Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Energy Ltd to sell its last remaining car factory in the country for about ₹3,500 crore, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Senior executives of the diversified JSW Group and GM met in the US earlier this month to discuss the plans, said one of the two people on condition of anonymGM ity. JSW intends to foray into automobile manufacturing by producing an electric car, codenamed JSW car, at the factory and sell it in the price range of ₹12-15 lakh, the person added.
currently uses the factory at Talegaon in Pune to produce some models of its Beat hatchback solely for exports. The factory is valued anywhere between ₹3,000 crore and ₹3,500 crore, which includes land cost, an engine assembly line and car assembly line, said the second person cited above.
The facility, which opened in 2008, is spread over 300 acres, including the car plant, with an annual capacity of 130,000 vehicles. “What I know is that JSW is in talks with GM to buy the plant... there have been discussions. Originally, PSA was also interested but their talks fell through,” said the second person.
A spokesperson for JSW said, “We do not comment on speculation.” GM declined to comment.
A potential sale of the decadeold Pune plant would mark the departure of GM from India where it began selling cars in 1996 and subsequently built two factories. In 2015, GM said it would cease production at its factory at Halol in Gujarat to consolidate its business in India. The auto maker closed the factory by 2017, amid labour protests and stopped selling its cars in India, forcing nearly 100 dealers to shut shop.