Gadkari’s Wooing of Musk’s Tesla to India Is a Pipe Dream For Now

The government is hoping to convince Tesla to set up a plant in India.

The transport minister wants Elon Musk to change his mind over India plans. (Photo: iStockphoto)

It seems like each minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet are taking turns to convince Tesla to Make in India. Earlier this year, the PM himself went over to their plant in the US, where he was hosted by none other than Elon Musk.

And now, we havetransport minister Nitin Gadkari doing his bit to get into Tesla’s good books and compel them to see India as their hub outside of the US.

According to press statement by the transport ministry, Gadkari & co are hopeful of enticing Tesla to set up shop with various eco-friendly incentives and did his best to offer as much local resources as possible.

Shri Gadkari said the Indian Government was committed to encouraging alternate pollution free transport in the country by providing incentives to bio-fuel, CNG, Ethanol and electric vehicles. He proposed to the Tesla senior executives to make India their Asia manufacturing hub and offered land near major Indian ports to facilitate export of their vehicles to South and South East Asian countries.  

<a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/pmreleases.aspx?mincode=69">Statement</a>

Tesla has a long way to go before it sees India as a hub for such plants. (Photo: AP)

But as expected, Tesla’s views clearly suggest that India is not in their plans, at least for now.

For them to decide on India as their next big stop, the Indian government needs to offer more than just resources.

The current transport regime is keen on pushing more and more vehicles on the electric/CNG wagon. However, many constraints remain that need to be removed if a major brand like Tesla is to function.

The price band of $30,000 for the Model X may be affordable for a futuristic consumer vehicle, but in India, the pricing needs to come down even further, in order to appeal to the masses.

The overall road infrastructure also needs to be improved, and finally for electric vehicles to be a success, power sources need to be in abundance.

While it is laudable that Gadkari and others are trying to push and convince Tesla to make its foray into India, the job has just started. The government needs to make sure that all the tools are in place to fulfil the Make in India promise.