Tesla Proposed to Set up Electric Car Factory in India, Government to take decision

Global electric car company Tesla has proposed to set up a plant to manufacture electric cars in India. With the sale of electric cars in the country, exports can also be done from this plant. Last year, Tesla had requested the central government to reduce the import duty on cars, which was turned down by the government. Import of cars in the country attracts up to 100 percent tax.

Sources with knowledge of this told Reuters that Tesla Senior executives have given proposals to the Central Government officials to set up plants in the country. Earlier, the government had asked the company to manufacture vehicles in the country but Tesla wanted to test the market first and due to this the talks did not yield any results. A source said that Tesla executives in India have not discussed reducing import tax with the authorities. The company has given a proposal to set up a factory.

Many global companies want to expand their supply chain out of China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign can be a good way for such companies. Tesla executives have held meetings with officials of the Prime Minister’s Office and some ministries. However, the company did not respond to a query sent by Reuters about this. Tesla’s Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, last year shelved his plan to sell electric cars in the country after the government rejected his request to reduce import taxes. Musk said that the import tax on cars in India is very high.

Recently Musk had said that this year the company could launch full self-drive technology. This is likely to increase Tesla’s profit. The company sells full self-driving (FSD) software as an option for about $15,000. Musk had told, “I think we will introduce it this year.” Prior to this, Musk has not been able to meet the goals set for the self-driving capability of Tesla’s electric cars several times.