Photo: Business Today
Tesla will get all the help it needs to set up a manufacturing plant in India, assures the Maharashtra minister, inviting Elon Musk to choose the state. After the head of the American company announced that Tesla was facing a lot of challenges with the government, Indian politicians began to offer their help.
On Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company is "still working through a lot of challenges with the government," which is preventing the manufacturer from fully entering the market and starting to sell its long-awaited cars. This process dragged on, and although Tesla made a big effort throughout 2021 to start, the Indian government does not want to make concessions.
At the moment, the question is that Tesla wants to study the real demand in the local market before building a manufacturing plant there. However, the import duty on cars in India is prohibitively high, making it difficult to achieve the company's market research goal. The lower duty can only be obtained if the manufacturer establishes an assembly or manufacturing facility in India. However, investing money in building a factory in a market that may not end up showing enough interest in EVs is too risky, so Tesla is trying to find some sort of compromise.
Still working through a lot of challenges with the government
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2022
In response to a tweet from Musk, Maharashtrian Minister Jayant Patil assured the head of the company that Tesla would get the necessary cooperation from the state in order to settle in India and invited him to open the company's factory with them.
"Maharashtra is one of the most progressive states in India. We will provide you all the necessary help from Maharashtra for you to get established in India. We invite you to establish your manufacturing plant in Maharashtra."
.@elonmusk, Maharashtra is one of the most progressive states in India. We will provide you all the necessary help from Maharashtra for you to get established in India. We invite you to establish your manufacturing plant in Maharashtra. https://t.co/w8sSZTpUpb
— Jayant Patil- जयंत पाटील (@Jayant_R_Patil) January 16, 2022
Patil is not the first Indian politician to react to Musk's tweet. On Friday, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Indian state of Telangana K.T. Rama Rao (known as KTR) invited the head of the company on behalf of the state to set up shop with them. The invitation was made through his personal Twitter account, quoting Musk's recent tweet. KTR wrote that he would be happy to cooperate in solving the problems associated with setting up the business not only in Telangana but also in India.
Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India
— KTR (@KTRTRS) January 14, 2022
Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana
Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India https://t.co/hVpMZyjEIr
© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
