Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD has firmly denied recent reports claiming it’s setting up a manufacturing plant in Hyderabad. The company clarified that while it is interested in the Indian market, there are no confirmed plans to build a factory—at least for now.
The clarification comes after a series of media reports suggested BYD was planning to invest a whopping ₹85,000 crore (around $10 billion) in India. One such report even said that the Telangana government had already identified 200 acres of land for the project and that BYD would be partnering with Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) to make it happen.
Some reports claimed the plant would span over 500 acres, with a target production capacity of 600,000 vehicles by 2032. It was also said to include a battery manufacturing unit with a capacity of 20 GWh. But BYD has called time on these claims, saying nothing is finalised.
What BYD has said is this: they’re exploring possibilities and watching the market closely. In plain terms, they’re not jumping into anything without first studying the rules of the game—and making sure the numbers add up.
BYD already has a small assembly unit in Tamil Nadu. That’s where their electric buses roll out from at the moment. So while the Hyderabad buzz might sound exciting, this isn’t the first time such reports have surfaced—and then fizzled out.
Over the years, BYD has been rumoured to be scouting for a bigger Indian base several times, but with nothing concrete to show for it so far.
On the retail side, BYD isn’t sitting idle. The company had 27 dealerships in India last year and wants to push that number to 47 by the end of this year. It’s also looking beyond big cities, eyeing tier-II locations for future expansion.
There’s talk of a new, more affordable EV in the works—reportedly priced below ₹20 lakh—to target India’s growing mass-market EV segment. If true, a local manufacturing unit would make a lot of sense, as it could cut costs significantly and make BYD models more price-competitive. But again, this is all possibility, not certainty.
BYD’s interest in India isn’t in doubt. The market is growing, the government is offering incentives, and demand for electric vehicles is slowly picking up pace. But for now, the company is playing it safe—studying regulations, evaluating opportunities, and not making any big announcements.
