As the transition to electric vehicles is in process, we have new manufacturers and cars coming to the market. When you are talking about EVs, there is one company that you cannot miss, and Tesla has arrived in India to discuss diversification. Let’s see what we know:
Initial Denial
Tesla had plans to enter the Indian market a while ago, but things did not exactly go as planned. The relationship between the American manufacturer and India has gone a bit south due to that.
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Tesla requested that the Indian government decrease the import charges, but the government denied it. But after abandoning those plans, some upper management executives are on their way to India to discuss their supply chain diversification from China.
Plans for India
The details of the meeting between our prime minister and senior management executives from Tesla have not been revealed yet. However, the meeting would be private, but sources have reported plans to discuss sourcing local products for manufacturing.
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These locally sourced products would be utilized in their EVs, such as the Model X, Model Y, Model 3, and Model S. The officials might be C-suite executives from departments such as supply chain and production, and business development based in Austin, Texas.
Heavy Import Charges
Tesla had asked the Indian government to reduce the heavy import charges back in 2019. But the government has been stubborn throughout. EVs with a price of less than USD 40,000 are subjected to a 60% import duty. While the ones costing more than that are subjected to 100% import duty.
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However, IC-engine vehicles face the same issue with import regulations. Tesla was not the only one requesting lower charges; it was also reported that even Audi lobbied the Indian government for the same reason and request. This led to significant turmoil for the brand and employees such as Manuj Khurana.
