Tesla plans to enter the Indian market this summer, according to the company's Chief Executive Elon Musk. Last year in April, the company had stated that it planned to enter India with its Model 3 in 2017 while it began the global roll-out of the electric car in late 2016.
And looks like Tesla is set to live up to its promise, if one goes by this tweet from Musk sent out this week.
Without revealing more details about the Tesla launch, Musk has raised excitement levels in the country, especially among those who had pre-ordered the Model 3 last year.
The Model 3 is Tesla’s most affordable car, which promises 215 miles (346 km) of range per charge and is priced upwards of $35,000 (Rs 23.8 lakh approximately).
In a visit to the company's plant last year, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had offered Tesla land near major Indian ports to facilitate exports to South and South East Asian countries while asking the company to make India its Asia manufacturing hub.
In 2014, Tesla had said it was keen to enter the Indian market and even identified the country as one of the possible locations to set up a manufacturing plant in Asia.
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In September 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Tesla's facility in San Jose. The PM had showed keen interest in some of their path-breaking innovations, particularly in the renewable energy sector which can have multiple applications in remote rural areas.
The company, however, said high duty on imported vehicles and lack of a separate category for electric cars prevented it from selling vehicles in India despite the country having a huge potential.
If Musk is serious about entering the Indian market with the Tesla, the government needs to revise its existing taxing policy for electric vehicles and encourage more brands to focus on the segment, for environment’s sake.
(With inputs from PTI)
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