🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

JSW is building an EV business across manufacturing, batteries, and materials

• The partnership gives Uber access to an Indian conglomerate that is making a large bet on electric vehicles 1.
• JSW Group plans to invest 400 billion rupees (US$5 billion) in Odisha, a state in eastern India, to build a full EV setup 2, 1.
• The plan covers a plant for 100,000 commercial EVs a year, a 50 gigawatt-hour battery facility, and a lithium refinery to keep more of the supply chain in house 1.
• JSW Motors Ltd. also plans to invest at least US$500 million over five to six years in Maharashtra, a western Indian state, for a research hub that adapts vehicles from global partners for Indian conditions 3.

Uber is using local partnerships to handle a split global EV market

• Uber describes the agreement as part of its goal to become a zero-emission platform by 2040 4.
• Uber also has a global deal with BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle maker, for markets including Europe and Latin America, while the JSW tie-up is built for India 5.
• The deal also fits a wider effort by Indian conglomerates to rely less on Chinese technology after delays and hurdles in technology transfers from Chinese firms 3.
• The shift suggests global technology platforms now need local supply chains for market fit and to cut geopolitical risk 3.