Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors Initiates Talks with Federal Government to enter the Indian Market

Soon we may witness Tesla’s electric cars in India. The renowned electric car maker, founded by Elon Musk, has initiated talks with the federal government, conveying its interest to enter India through single-brand retail route. It includes a mandatory sourcing of up to 30% of the goods sold in the country.

However, it’s not the first time that Tesla has signaled to enter the Indian automobile market. A few months ago, in June 2017, Elon Musk had already expressed the obstacles by tweeting, “In discussions with the government of India requesting temporary relief on import penalties/restrictions until a local factory is built.”

Elon Musk's Tesla Motors in Talks with Indian Government

Elon Musk posing with a Tesla Car (Image Source: Luxury Magzine)

Evidently, Tesla is keen to bring its electric cars to India but the present import duties are acting as an obstacle on its way. As per the market reports, Musk was planning to bring Tesla cars here by Summer 2017. It was believed that Tesla Model 3 would be introduced in India but the issues with local sourcing requirements and absence of a vendor base could not be resolved, back then.

Even though India has been offering a provision to grant an exemption to the high technology goods, from the past two years, none of the applicants have been able to avail the waiver. Coming back to Tesla, it’s still quite unclear as to how it will build the infrastructure in India and offer after-sales services, given that there is an absence of adequate sources.

PM Modi Visited Tesla Motors Headquarters in 2015
PM Modi with Elon Musk at Tesla Motors Headquarters  in 2015 (Image Source: sify.com)

As for the buyers, Tesla is already a popular brand and needs no introduction. All the electric car enthusiasts look forward to its hi-tech features. Moreover, the government’s desire to bring the tech giant to India was quite evident when Prime Minister Modi visited Tesla’s headquarters in 2015.

The government is expected to revert to Tesla over the next few weeks. Until then, we hope that the discussions will be fruitful and soon we may witness Tesla’s electric cars equipped with state-of-the-art technology in India.

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