Sanjeev Gupta is reported to have approached General Motors to buy assets from South Australia’s closed Elizabeth factory

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Fresh from rescuing the Whyalla steelworks from receivership, Britain’s “man of steel” Sanjeev Gupta is now eyeing an ambitious plan to build electric cars at the former Holden site in South Australia.

The Advertiser is reporting that the British billionaire and GFG Alliance boss has approached General Motors Holden to buy assets from the closed Elizabeth factory.

The newspaper has obtained a letter written by the South Australian treasurer, Tom Koutsantonis, asking GM Holden to support Gupta’s plans.

It states that the GFG Alliance “intend to develop the site as a manufacturing base for an electric vehicle, utilising the innovative i-Stream technology”.

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The letter says that the company had lodged a bid to buy “certain assets from the former General Motors Holden site” before a public auction opened last Friday.

“We are incredibly excited and supportive of the GFG Alliance’s bid and subsequent plans to ensure the continuation of our very proud history of automotive excellence and innovation in South Australia,” Koutsantonis wrote in the letter dated 17 January.

“We believe that the GFG Alliance’s plans would put South Australia at the forefront of the inevitable transition of the Australian market to electric vehicles and ask that all due consideration be given to their bid and the potentially significant benefits to the automotive industry and broader community in South Australia.”

On Monday the energy and environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, said that he, the prime minister and a number of other ministers had met Sanjeev Gupta.

“He has some exciting plans for South Australia, and if he wants to invest in creating more jobs then of course we would always welcome that,” Frydenberg told ABC Radio National.

Asked if those included building electric cars from the Holden factory, Frydenberg replied Gupta had “a lot of plans”.

“I don’t know how advanced those plans are. But certainly he’s focused on steelmaking, he’s focused on energy for those plants and he’s proven himself internationally to be an entrepreneur who’s got results,” he said.

Asked about reports that Coalition members including Craig Kelly, Andrew Broad and John Williams had warned against industry assistance for electric vehicles, the energy and environment minister said the federal government would cooperate with state and local governments to resolve “logistical issues”.

“What we need to see is some of the infrastructure issues resolved, because when people come to make a decision about the vehicle that they purchase they want to be sure if they do purchase an electric vehicle that they can plug it in when they go on a long road trip,” he said.

Frydenberg said the government was consulting with industry about vehicle emissions standards but refused to nominate a timeframe for introduction of such standards in Australia.

Gupta has become synonymous with corporate rescues in Britain. His company has bought up over 20 steel, car and engineering plants in Britain that were slated for closure.

In August last year he bought the Whyalla steel works from the receivers of Arrium, ensuring that the Spencer Gulf town’s major industry would continue.

He then bought 50.1% of Adelaide battery company Zen Energy, and has announced plans for the company to invest in a major renewables project to power the steel manufacturing operations.

The $700m investment will be the largest solar and power storage investment in Australia, and is intended to provide one gigawatt of additional dispatchable renewable energy assets to major industries on the Eyre peninsula, including Gupta’s OneSteel.

The Holden site was sold to Melbourne-based industrial property group, Pelligra in December. It plans to turn the site into a hi-tech manufacturing hub, and is planning to rename it Lionsgate Business Park.

About 30% of the site has been leased back to Holden so it can continue its parts and servicing operations, but the company is looking for other tenants.

The Holden plant and equipment were due to be sold off shortly.

• Additional reporting by Paul Karp