Elon Musk had registered a local company in India in January and had ramped up local hiring while also scouting for showroom space
Recently, a YouTuber Madan Gowri tweeted at Elon Musk asking him when he would launch Tesla in India to which Musk replied with a number of reasons why he isn’t going to do it anytime soon.
Elon Musk had written to the Indian ministries seeking a big reduction in import duties on electric vehicles to set up the factory for Tesla Inc in India. however, he is likely to face some resistance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration which has championed high import taxes for many industries in a bid to boost local manufacturing.
Dear @elonmusk please launch Tesla cars in India ASAP! 😍 pic.twitter.com/ohFieRzdGW
— Madan Gowri (@madan3) July 23, 2021
While replying to Gowri’s tweet Elon Musk wrote, “We want to do so, but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country! Moreover, clean energy vehicles are treated the same as diesel or petrol, which does not seem entirely consistent with the climate goals of India.”
Dear @elonmusk please launch Tesla cars in India ASAP! 😍 pic.twitter.com/ohFieRzdGW
— Madan Gowri (@madan3) July 23, 2021
Musk is not the first to request the Indian government to lower taxes on imported cars, there have been others too but have had little success in the matter.
While lower duties would give Tesla a better chance to test the market, its plan is to begin sales in India. Tesla had registered a local company in India in January and had ramped up local hiring while also scouting for showroom space.
