Parth Jindal, scion of the JSW Group, Director on the Board and a Steering Committee Member of JSW MG Motor India, stopped short of ruling out a potential partnership with Škoda Auto Volkswagen India, saying on the sidelines of the MG Hector Tomahawk launch that it was ‘premature’ for him to comment on the reported discussions.
“As of now, we have only two brands: the MG brand and JSW. So, nothing else has happened yet,” Jindal said. Asked about the status of the reported talks, he added: “It’s still premature for me to say anything about that.”
Škoda, which leads Volkswagen Group’s operations in India, has been seeking a local partner to share risk and accelerate growth in the world’s third-largest car market.
The Group has been exploring potential local partnership to make greater use of the European group’s existing production footprint in India while bringing in fresh capital for expansion.
Reports have said JSW could hold 51 per cent and Škoda Auto Volkswagen India 49 per cent in the proposed standalone venture, with its Chakan plant near Pune forming a key part of the manufacturing base. JSW could invest more than $1.1 billion in the venture, according to market and industry experts, though neither side has announced a transaction or investment figure.
Compared to his measured stance on Skoda VW, Jindal was markedly more bullish about JSW’s existing partnership with China’s SAIC Motor. SAIC continues to own 49 per cent of JSW MG Motor India against JSW’s 35 per cent, with the balance held by Indian financial investors, dealers and employees. Jindal said the ownership structure remains unchanged but confirmed that discussions between the shareholders over the next phase of the venture are under way.
He said SAIC increasingly sees India as its “next engine for growth” as growth becomes harder to come by in China and Europe. The success of the Windsor EV has also given the two partners greater confidence to invest further in India.
The easing of Press Note 3 restrictions on investments from countries sharing a land border with India could make that easier. “Obviously, with Press Note 3 relaxation, it opens up more avenues for them to invest as well, which I’m sure they will be considering,” Jindal said.
The need for capital is set to rise as MG scales. JSW MG and its vendors are already committing about ₹6,000 crore—₹3,500 crore from the company and ₹2,500 crore from suppliers—to its current expansion, which will take annual capacity at Halol to 2.2 lakh vehicles by January 2028.
But Jindal said that would only be an intermediate step. “We want to scale to 4,00,000 and then get to a million cars and for that we will need capital,” he said, adding that discussions between JSW and SAIC were “well underway”.
The proposed Škoda-VW venture would add another leg to JSW’s widening automotive strategy, which already spans its partnership with SAIC Motor through JSW MG, as well as plans to use technology and vehicle platforms from China’s Chery for products under JSW Motors This includes decisions regardingo fresh capital and a much larger India footprint for JSW MG Motor India., which Jindal outlined as part of todays new PHEV and EV Tomhawk launch.
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