Tesla showrooms to open up in India soon?

Elon Musk’s LA-based EV company, Tesla had registered a local company in India in January 2021 to start its operations in the country. And according to recent reports, now the carmaker is finally ready to roll its dice in the country as it has begun to search showroom locations in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore

The electric carmaker has its headquarter set in Bengaluru, Karnataka for its Indian operations and as per unconfirmed reports, the brand will first launch its premiere Model 3 electric sedan in the country. It will be a fully imported car brought via the CBU route, so be prepared for the hefty price tag (Well, someone has correctly named it the Apple of cars, in terms of pricing at least).

Reports say Tesla is planning to start its deliveries in India in the second half of 2021 and currently looking for showroom space for the first phase. The cities shortlisted for it are Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The reported showrooms will have an area of about 20k-30k sq. ft. each and with an in-house service centre. It is not clear as to which will be the first city of the three to get a Tesla dealer showroom in India.

Reuters has revealed that Tesla has hired Manuj Khurana for its business development in the country. Khurana is a former executive of Invest India, a body that has been formed to bring global investments to India.

Will there be any concession to Tesla as per the Central Government go-green agenda?

The Indian government has recently launched its much-awaited scraping policy which aims at removing almost 1 crore old vehicles from the road that’s damaging the environment and contributing to the rising pollution levels. The GOI is also planning to discontinue Petrol/Diesel vehicles and go completely electric by 2030.

For the same, car manufacturers are being encouraged by concessions on developing and producing electric vehicles in India by the government. Now, will these aids be offered to Tesla? In relation to this, Union Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari, said that the government is willing to offer greater incentives to Tesla when it sets up shop in India. Although the government suggested the carmaker to completely build the cars in the country rather than just assembling them.

Gadkari assured that the government would ensure that the production cost of Tesla cars would be the least when compared to the rest of the world including China. India is currently looking to boost local manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), batteries and other components to cut costly imports and curb pollution in its major cities. Hence, it is offering grand incentives to all EV and battery makers in the country.

Current infrastructure status in India?

Last month, Karnataka CM, BS Yediyurappa confirmed that Tesla would set up a local assembly plant as well as an R&D facility in the state. The company is currently scouting for a suitable location to set up this facility in the suburbs of Bengaluru and is in talks with local officials for the past six months. As per some reports, the EV manufacturer is close to inking a deal with the local administration.