NEW DELHI: As many as four states have invited Tesla to set up its manufacturing unit even as its entry in the Indian market has been delayed by years.
These invitations poured in after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the automaker has been trying to work through ‘some challenges’ with the Indian government.
Soon after Telangana minister KT Rama Rao expressed his state’s willingness to partner with Tesla on Friday, West Bengal minister Md Ghulam Rabbani, NCP minister Jayant Patil and Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu took on twitter to invite the American electric carmaker in their respective states during the weekend.
While Patil tweeted, “We will provide you all the necessary help from Maharashtra for you to get established in India. We invite you to establish your manufacturing plant in Maharashtra,” Sidhu said, “I invite Elon Musk, Punjab Model will create Ludhiana as hub for Electric Vehicles & Battery industry with time bound single window clearance for investment that brings new technology to Punjab, create green jobs, walking path of environment preservation & sustainable development.”
It has been around two years since Tesla had said that it would be setting a manufacturing unit in India. It also made some top level hiring and set up a subsidiary in Bengaluru. It received approval in India for four models in August 2021 and another three models in Dec 2021.
However, the vehicles are yet to hit Indian roads as the company’s demand for a lower import duty for its EVs remains a contentious point.