Leading American automaker Tesla has taken another step forward in penetrating the Indian electric vehicle market. On Thursday, two senior company executives had a meeting with investment agency Invest India to negotiate its proposed entry into the country as a domestic automaker, Reuters reports citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Meeting highlights
Tesla’s senior public policy and business development executive Rohan Patel and supply chain vice president Roshan Thomas went to New Delhi to meet Invest India’s officials, as per the two sources that refused to be named due to the confidentiality of the matter.
They further noted that the Tesla senior executives were able to meet the investment agency’s CEO, Nivruti Rai, an ex-Intel executive.
The sources disclosed that Tesla presented its proposal to erect a new EV factory in the country to handle the production of its mass-market car. It would have a base price of $24,000, which is approximately lower than the brand’s current base model by approximately 25%.
Most interestingly, the new Tesla EV will cater to both domestic and export demands.
Apart from this recent meeting with India’s investment promotion arm in New Delhi, previous reports suggest that Tesla delegates are set to meet commerce minister Piyush Goyal to discuss establishing an EV supply chain and land allocation for the proposed factory.
Numerous states in India are attempting to urge Tesla to develop its new EV factory in their respective regions. However, one of the sources claims that the Musk-led automaker has reportedly set its sights on New Delhi.
It must also be noted that Tesla and the government still need to negotiate and agree on some federal-level concerns before reaching final talk stages, such as location finalization, etc.
Tesla concedes
The latest reports regarding Tesla-India negotiations indicate a huge reversal in the automaker’s initial strategy of demanding import taxes reduction on vehicles.
At that time, Tesla aimed to first import its EVs and test how the market would accept its presence.
Now, it seems that Tesla conceded to the government’s terms, which urged the company to establish domestic EV production first.
See Also:
- Tesla, India already in talks to build a Gigafactory for EVs starting at ₹20 lakh
- Indian Industry Minister invites Tesla to build a Gigafactory, highlighting innovation and technological prowess
- Indian Prime Minister meets Tesla CEO in the US, sparking rumors about Giga India
- Tesla to enter the Indian market with potential vendor base, per report
- Tesla is “serious” about building a production base in India, minister claims
Tesla’s deep interest in India is unsurprising, given the country’s high potential to advance in the global industry as the world’s third-largest auto market.
The Musk-led company’s upcoming entry into the country will certainly boost the economy, generating thousands of new job positions for local residents. Likewise, it will also aid Tesla in achieving its production and sales targets as it aims to defend its dominant position in the industry.
