NEW DELHI: Amid speculation that the government might finally relent to Elon Musk’s demand for tax exemptions for electric vehicles, commerce minister Piyush Goyal visited Tesla’s manufacturing facility in Fremont, California, on Monday. During his time at the facility, Minister Goyal expressed his delight at witnessing the notable presence of Indian engineers and finance professionals occupying senior positions within Tesla.
“Visited Tesla’s state- of- the-art manufacturing facility at Fremont, California. Extremely delighted to see talented Indian engineers & finance professionals working at Senior positions and contributing to Tesla’s remarkable journey to transform mobility,” Goyal said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In his tweet, Goyal noted the rising importance of Indian auto component suppliers in Tesla’s electric vehicle (EV) supply chain. He said Tesla is set to double its imports of components from India, reflecting the high quality and reliability of Indian suppliers.
“Also, (I am) proud to see the growing importance of Auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain. It is on its way to double its components imports from India,” Goyal said via his tweet.
However, Commerce Minister Goyal was unable to meet Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, during his visit but he conveyed his well-wishes to Musk for his speedy recovery. Meanwhile, Musk conveyed his apologies for not being able to travel to California. “It was an honor to have you visit Tesla! My apologies for not being able to travel to California today, but I look forward to meeting at a future date,” Musk said.
It’s been several months since the Indian government and Musk have been discussing about establishing manufacturing unit in India. Reportedly, Musk has been seeking import concessions from the Centre but the Indian Government is standing its ground and not giving any relaxation to Tesla. As per reports, Tesla is planning to set up a facility in India to manufacture a $24,000 car, and develop a comprehensive charging infrastructure across the country.
Foreign news outlets have reported that the Indian government might be considering a plan for five year import duty tax cuts for electric vehicles. India currently imposes 100% duty on fully imported cars.