Posted on 06 Aug 2025
Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast commenced on Monday operations at its first EV manufacturing plant in India, Kallanish reports.
Located in Thoothukudi, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the facility is planned to have an initial annual capacity of 50,000 units, scaling up to 150,000 units/year. The $500 million plant’s construction began in April last year, after the Vietnamese company signed an agreement with the state government to invest up to $1.8 billion in the state.
At the time, the company’s Asia chief executive officer, Pham Sanh Chau, said VinFast chose Tamil Nadu to set up the plant due to its existing EV manufacturing ecosystem, skilled workforce, and progressive policies.
The plant will focus on premium electric SUV models, the VF 7 and VF 6. It is expected to create 3,000-3,500 direct jobs for local workers at full capacity, VinFast says in an emailed statement.
“The VinFast Tamil Nadu plant marks a strategic milestone in our long-term commitment to the Indian market,” Chau says. “It establishes a strong foundation for sustainable growth and positions us to offer high-quality, competitively priced electric vehicles to Indian consumers.”
The company plans to develop the plant into VinFast’s “largest export hub” for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the executive notes. VinFast has already secured initial orders from “several countries,” Chau adds without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s industries minister, TRB Raaja, noted during the inauguration ceremony: “18 months back, we signed an MOU and our critics then said that this is not possible in Tamil Nadu. But, today here we are.”
The Tamil Nadu plant is VinFast’s third operational plant and its first outside Vietnam. Its second facility, in Hà Tĩnh, Vietnam, was inaugurated a little over a month ago. The automaker also has plants in development in Indonesia and the US.
VinFast is eyeing a production target of 1 million vehicles/year by the end of the decade. In the first quarter of this year, the company posted a 295% y-o-y increase in EV deliveries after selling 36,330 units. However, Q1 net loss rose by 20% y-o-y to $1.23 billion.
Source:Kallanish
