Elon Musk: Tesla Working Through "Lot of Challenges" with Indian Govt

After a number of rumours and reports stating that Tesla will soon arrive in India, there’s been a new development. Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied to a tweet by Pranay Pathole, who had posted a question related to Tesla’s launch in India – “Yo @elonmusk any further update as to when Tesla’s will launch in India? They’re pretty awesome and deserve to be in every corner of the world!"

To this, Musk replied, “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government". Previously, Musk had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cut down on import taxes on EVs before the company enters the Indian market, as told to Reuters. In fact, India has a customs duty ranging between 60 per cent to 100 per cent on imported cars.

Musk also said that taxes in India are among the highest in the world, and hence, wanted them cut before there could be an entry into the Indian EV market. This invited the ire of a lot of Indian automobile manufacturers, who felt that this may discourage investment in local manufacturing.

Furthermore, Musk-owned Tesla had received approval for three more trims of its electric vehicles in India, bringing the total to seven versions approved in the country, media reports said. Tesla India received approval for three more vehicles in the country, citing information from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Teslarati reported earlier.

In August, Tesla received homologation certificates for four of its car models. With three more certificates, the electric vehicle maker now has seven vehicles approved in India. The precise Tesla variants that received approval have not been specified. However, there have been sightings of Model 3s and Model Ys on Indian roads, the report said.

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The latest three vehicles with homologations certificates have not been named either, it added. A few Tesla test units have been regularly navigating through local roads in India. Still, the US-based EV maker has yet to make any serious moves toward local production.

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Earlier this year, Musk noted that a Tesla factory in India might be possible if Tesla were to succeed with imported vehicles. As per the report, some sources stated that Tesla requested to reduce the import duties of vehicles sent to India by at least 40 per cent, which could help the US company test demand in the country. However, governing officials stated that there is zero chance for a single company, like Tesla, to receive specific incentives.

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