Vingroup signs $3 billion Telangana deal while VinFast keeps losing money

Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup has signed a $3 billion memorandum of understanding with the Government of Telangana for a phased investment across urban development, electric vehicles and energy. ET Auto reported that this is one of the state’s largest proposed foreign investments, but the money is still at the MoU stage rather than committed construction spending. The difference matters because an MoU records intent and does not by itself release funds.

Vingroup is best known outside Vietnam through VinFast, its electric vehicle maker. It is now also backing Green SM, an electric cab service that launched in Delhi-NCR and is expanding to Hyderabad with a fleet of Limo electric MPVs, according to Cartoq. Green SM has approval from the Karnataka Transport Department to run app-based taxi operations across Karnataka. In Bengaluru, it is pitching itself as cheaper than Ola, Uber and Rapido; Asianet Newsable described the offering as an ultra-low-cost electric taxi option. The Hindu reported that Bengaluru taxi unions oppose the entry of the Vietnamese aggregator. Vingroup is also running a ‘Trade Gas for Electric’ programme for VinFast cars in Vietnam, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, using discounts to encourage owners to shift away from traditional fuel vehicles.

What Vingroup is building in India and abroad

The Telangana MoU covers $3 billion of phased spending on a large-scale, multi-sector ecosystem. For commuters, Green SM creates a lower-cost way to experience Vingroup’s electric fleet without buying a car. For taxi drivers, the same app brings a new competitor, which is why Bengaluru’s unions have opposed the entry. Approval to operate across Karnataka puts Green SM alongside app aggregators already working in the state, even though unions are challenging its arrival. The Hyderabad expansion shows Vingroup intends to replicate the Delhi-NCR model rather than treat one city as an experiment.

Abroad, the group is also building physical businesses. Travel Trade Journal reported that the 135,000-seat VinFast-Trong Dong Stadium in Hanoi is scheduled to open in July 2027, and on completion it would become the world’s largest stadium; Vingroup and Legends Global are partnering on venue operations. Legends Global’s role in operations gives Vingroup a global partner for events rather than leaving venue management to be built from scratch. Philstar reported that Vingroup plans to spend $500 million on a flagship EV manufacturing facility in the Philippines. In Vietnam, the group tied its EV push to sustainability on 12 October 2024, announcing eco-friendly initiatives across its businesses around VinFast.

How Vingroup is hiring in Vietnam

The hiring drive is just as concrete. Vingroup’s ecosystem has created jobs for more than 7,000 people in the home province of billionaire founder Pham Nhat Vuong. The group is recruiting large numbers of workers to plant, water and prune trees, with monthly wages of 12 to 15 million Vietnamese dong, no experience required and training provided immediately after joining. A separate $18 billion construction site needs 10,000 workers, and VinCons has called on former employees to return. That gives jobseekers in Vuong’s home region low-skill employment that does not demand prior qualifications, while giving Vingroup a labour pool for construction and land work. The two hiring pushes show spending on both immediate jobs and long-term construction labour.

Why investors are nervous

The expansion is not free, and VinFast remains loss-making. Reuters reported in January that foreign investors have been selling Vingroup shares, taking them to multi-year lows and renewing scrutiny of the strategy of backing a loss-making EV maker. The pressure creates a clear tension: deals such as Telangana and the Philippines facility promise future ecosystems but require heavy upfront spending, while domestic hiring, stadium construction and Green SM’s discount fares add to current outgoings. Green SM could eventually soften the losses by building a consumer business beyond car sales, but the Karnataka launch has already hit union opposition. Foreign selling is the concrete pressure point, and the share price near multi-year lows is the number forcing attention on the group’s losses. VinFast’s shares remain near multi-year lows as foreign investors sell, and the Telangana investment is still a proposed MoU.