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Tesla

Stringent govt rule obstructs Tesla launch in India: Elon Musk

Tesla

World’s most sought-after electric vehicles maker Tesla may take some more time to enter the Indian market. According to a recent tweet from the company’s founder Elon Musk, the stringent rule of Indian government towards EV policy is the reason behind it.

On asking Tesla’s plan in India by a twitter user, Musk replied that his company would like to operate in the country. He also added that Tesla CFO Deepak Ahuja is from India and it will be available here soon.

Nothing much can be anticipated from Musk’s tweet but his statement won’t surprise Indian audience as the government’s flip-flop on electric vehicle policy has been a major concern for a long time. Earlier government had announced that it will be working towards 100 per cent electrification by 2030. However, it took a U-turn and scrapped such plans saying, “There is no need for any policy now”.

The uncertainty over EV policy still continues as it recently delayed the plan to roll out 10,000 electric cars to 2019. The tender for those 10,000 vehicles was originally issued in September 2017. EESL had wanted to deploy the first 500 cars in November 2017, and the rest by June of this year.

Musk remarks on India came after a year when he said that Tesla was working to launch in India by last summer but things couldn’t go accordingly. “Maybe I’m misinformed, but I was told that 30% of parts must be locally sourced and the supply doesn’t yet exist in India to support that,” Musk tweeted at that time.

According to Musk, his company was in discussions with the Indian government requesting temporary relief on import penalties or restrictions until a local factory is built.

In January this year, Musk revealed plans to install 10,000 Supercharger stations mainly in Europe, North America and China. There was no mention of India on the company’s global agenda.

However, union transport minister Nitin Gadkari was in the support of the company saying that India will welcome Tesla and ready to offer them land and all type of help.

Apart from Tesla, global carmakers Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Volvo, and Ford are also in the fray to launch their electric fleet in India. They all are awaiting government adequate support and clarity on the policy.

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