Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a high-profile meeting. According to sources, Tesla is looking into chances in India by hiring staff and searching for possible showroom locations. The company's increased interest comes as India is working to attract foreign original equipment manufacturers, and there may be a legal change that would allow Tesla to enter the third-largest car market in the world.
India has been working to become a key hub for manufacturing worldwide, and it has been successful in attracting big companies like Apple to establish and grow their operations there. Now, the government is working hard to get Tesla on board by creating a new EV tariff policy that will allow imports while demanding a commitment to domestic manufacture and investment.
“One thing is for sure, Tesla is coming to India based on the recent news, and the government is also very serious about it,” said Puneet Gupta, Director for the Indian automotive market at S&P Global Mobility.
Last year, India came up with an electric vehicle policy that reduced import duties on electric vehicles from an enormous 70% to a penny, 15%. This policy applies only to premium electric vehicles priced above $35,000 and requires an investment amounting to almost $500 million with a long-term commitment to manufacture. As per reports by the Indian news agency IANS, applications under this policy are expected to start at the end of March.
