Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that his company will not put a manufacturing plant in India until it is first allowed to sell, and service imported Tesla cars in the country. When a Twitter asked Musk about Tesla’s plans to put up a manufacturing plant in India, Musk responded, “Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed first to sell and service cars.”
Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed first to sell & service cars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2022
India and Telsa haven’t reached an understanding regarding import duties and setting up of the manufacturing plant by Tesla in the country.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had in April said that Tesla was welcome to manufacture EVs in India, but in case the owner decides to build cars in China and sell them here, it cannot be a “good proposition”, Business Standard reported.
However, Tesla has been seeking the exact same thing. The company has been negotiating with the government to lower import taxes in India so it can first test the market by selling cheaper imported electric vehicles before committing to a manufacturing plant.
Tesla had even incorporated a subsidiary in India early last year and registered an office in Bengaluru. Then in a tweet earlier this year, Musk said that Tesla was “still working through a lot of challenges with the government.”
Recent reports suggest that Tesla is now looking towards Indonesia as a key market in the South Asian region and is considering making it the manufacturing hub for the region.
Earlier, the Economic Times had reported that several Tesla executives in India were reassigned to focus on Indonesia and other Asian countries. This indicates that Tesla’s negotiations with the government have possibly reached a standstill.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
