The JSW group is set to move its planned Rs 40,000-crore electric vehicle (EV) and battery project from Odisha to Maharashtra, the Mint reported on September 24.

The move, a blow for the ruling BJP, comes seven months after the company signed an agreement with the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal government, the newspaper said. The BJD was voted out in the assembly elections in June, giving the BJP its first government in the eastern state.

Aurangabad and Nagpur in Maharashtra are now the top choices for the Sajjan Jindal-led group for its EV and battery projects, the report said.

In February, the group had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government to set up an EV and battery manufacturing plants in Cuttack and Paradip. The company said it would invest Rs 40,000 crore for the mega plants.

Meanwhile, Executive vice-president (corporate strategy) of JSW Steel Ranjan Nayak said the speculations and reports in a section of media are not correct. “The proposed Rs 40,000 crore EV and battery manufacturing project is not shifting out of Odisha,”