It is not secret that Tesla is planning to enter the Indian market. Indian states are offering different benefits to Tesla, as it will bring new investment and jobs. Speaking to Reuters, Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways said that India is ready to give incentives to ensure Tesla Inc’s cost of producing an electric vehicle would be less than in China. However, Tesla will have to make a commitment of making its electric vehicles in India.
Elon Musk, CEO and product architect of Tesla Inc has registered the company in Bengaluru, Karnataka, as Tesla India Motors and Energy Pvt Ltd. The report further claims that the Model 3 will be Tesla’s first model in our market.
Nitin Gadkari, said, “Rather than assembling (the cars) in India they should make the entire product in the country by hiring local vendors. Then we can give higher concessions.” He further said that “the government will make sure the production cost for Tesla will be the lowest when compared with the world, even China, when they start manufacturing their cars in India. We will assure that,”.
Government of India wants to boost local manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), batteries and other components to reduce import costs and curb pollution. Only 5,000 electric cars were sold last year, and the lack of infrastructure is the major issue in increase of EVs sales in India.
Gadkari also said that India could be an export hub for Tesla, especially with about 80% of components for lithium-ion batteries being made locally now. He also wanted to talk with Tesla about building an ultra high-speed hyperloop between Delhi and Mumbai. Government of India is working on production-linked incentive scheme for auto and auto components makers as well as battery manufacturing units. However, details about the new incentive scheme are yet to be revealed. Government had introduced the new tougher emission rules for carmakers. It will further introduce stringent fuel efficiency rules from April 2022.
