In the early days of October, a tweet from Elon Musk about Tesla's India plan has created a lot of buzzes. Currently, the carmaker is in talks with different state governments to set up its plant/R&D center in India. In this process, the Maharashtra govt is also in discussions with the American electric vehicle maker, as state's Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray has confirmed a meeting with the Tesla team by a tweet.
According to the tweet, he along with the state’s industries minister, Subhash Desai had participated in a virtual meeting with Tesla and invited them to invest in Maharashtra. However, no other details were specified on the nature of the investment.
Apart from Maharashtra, earlier Tesla was also in talks with the state governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for investment opportunities. If reports are to be believed, the brand is interested in setting up a Research & Development center in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
About Tesla Inc.
Tesla Inc. is an American electric car manufacturer, founded in July 2003. Currently, there are four models in Tesla's global lineup – Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y. Model 3 is the most affordable Tesla car, which is priced at $38,000 (approximately Rs 27.97 lakh). It can cover up to 400km on a single charge and can sprint from standstill to 100kmph in just 5.3 seconds.
Also Read: Tesla cars now capable of reading traffic lights and stop signals; the company tells in a press note
In January 2020, the brand has unveiled its fifth offering which is an all-electric utility truck named "Cybertruck" and within a week of its unveiling, the brand has received over 2 lakh pre-orders for the pure EV pick-up.
Author's Take
Currently, the Indian govt is encouraging the nation to adopt an electric way of mobility. The upcoming corporate average fuel efficiency (CAFE) norms are set to be implemented in 2022, and this will ensure the gradual electrification of vehicles, and around this time most companies will move towards hybrid and electric mobility.
We believe the repeated delays of Tesla launch in India will finally make its way to India this time around as the CEO Elon Musk has too recently announced that the order configurator for India will be online by as early as January 2021.