JSW MG Motor India has called for lower taxation of plug-in hybrids and plans to bring extended-range EVs to India as it widens its new-energy technology play, even as JSW Group’s ₹40,000-crore Odisha EV and battery project, including a planned 50 GWh battery plant, remains on hold while it searches for an LFP cell-technology partner.
“We would love to see a tax reduction for PHEVs,” said Parth Jindal, scion of the JSW Group, Director on the Board and a Steering Committee Member of JSW MG Motor India, on the sidelines of the MG Hector Tomahawk launch.
The tax gap
Pure EVs attract 5 per cent GST, while larger PHEVs can face 28 per cent GST plus compensation cess, thereby substantially increasing their effective indirect-tax burden. Jindal acknowledged the government’s rationale: because a PHEV’s petrol engine can directly drive the wheels, it is treated as an internal-combustion vehicle rather than an EV.
But he pointed to the newly launched Hector Tomahawk to illustrate the price consequence. Jindal said its PHEV version could effectively have been priced alongside the battery-electric Tomahawk but for the difference in taxation.
He stopped short of seeking the same tax treatment as a pure EV, instead floating a middle ground. “Don’t make it 12%, make it 18%… But consumer should get it cheaper,” Jindal said.
The Tomahawk PHEV has a 20.5 kWh battery, more than 115 km of claimed electric-only range and a combined petrol-electric range exceeding 1,100 km. MG sees such vehicles as a bridge for customers who can make much of their everyday travel on electricity but do not want to depend entirely on charging infrastructure for longer journeys.
Three routes to electrification
The argument is part of MG’s broader three-powertrain strategy under its ADAPT platform, spanning battery EVs, plug-in hybrids and, eventually, extended-range EV.
A battery EV (BEV) runs entirely on electricity and depends on external charging. A PHEV combines a rechargeable battery and electric motor with a petrol engine that can also drive the wheels. An EREV, by contrast, always uses its electric motor for propulsion; its petrol engine acts as an onboard generator, producing electricity when battery charge runs low.
MG bets that India’s transition will be a spectrum: BEVs for buyers ready to depend on charging, PHEVs for those wanting electric commuting without sacrificing long-distance flexibility, and EREVs for buyers seeking electric propulsion with a petrol-powered range safety net.
EREV next for MG
MG now intends to bring that third technology to India.
“EREV is definitely something that we would like to bring. We can bring, and I mean we want to bring,” Jindal said, adding that he expects the technology to become popular in India.
Unlike a PHEV, an EREV’s petrol engine does not directly propel the wheels—a distinction that could eventually raise another policy question over how range extenders should be taxed in India.
Battery localisation hurdle
Battery cells remain a key gap in MG’s localisation push. JSW Group’s ₹40,000-crore Odisha project envisages a 50 GWh battery plant alongside EV manufacturing, a lithium refinery and copper smelter, with the battery investment intended to support the group’s expanding automotive ambitions, including JSW MG.
The project has been put on hold while JSW searches for an LFP cell-technology partner. Downstream cell-to-pack facilities have already been commissioned, allowing the group to localise more of the battery value chain, but local cell manufacturing remains the missing piece.
Published on August 27, 2026
