Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla raised concerns about launching Tesla cars in India on Monday, because he doesn’t agree with the sourcing regulations that are in place. However, the Indian government was quick to clarify to him how FDI in the auto industry works.
According to the Make in India official Twitter handle, Musk was wrongly informed about the regulations that are in place for automotive companies.
Musk, in his tweet, had said that he was told that entering India would require 30 percent parts to be locally sourced and added that this will not be possible.
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The excitement about Tesla coming to India started when Elon Musk tweeted out ‘Hoping for summer this year’ to a question about plans of launching Tesla in India.
Tesla has to figure out a lot of things before going public about its India plans, which might take longer than this summer.
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As a car company, if it was to import and sell its cars here, it would have to charge very high prices – a Model S would cost upwards of Rs 1 crore in India. That wouldn’t work well for volumes. The Model 3, if imported would still cost over Rs 60 lakh. Local assembly would be necessary to target a lower sticker price.
Besides that, before getting electric cars on to the roads, Tesla would have to consider setting up a charger network. In a country that is still struggling with rural electrification, this would be a challenge.
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