Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has confirmed that Tesla will “start operations” in India in early 2021. This seems to be in line with the different claims online and even the tweet from Elon Musk which confirms release in 2021.
Tesla first started taking orders from Indian customers back in 2016 and this could just be that the company would start delivering on those orders. The order configurator for India is also yet to go live, so this could just be that for those who already pre-ordered. It seems like Tesla will sell its electric cars online and not via a sales and dealership route.
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When does Tesla touch down in India?
The newest report is from The Indian Express which confirms the arrival of Tesla in India in the first half of 2021. Nitin Gadkari also confirmed the push for electric vehicles in India and how Indian companies are also making strides in this department.
He confirmed that Tesla will begin with sales in India and then look to set up an assembly and manufacturing facility. But this would be based on how well the response is to the cars. Though a more practical approach would be to set up charging stations, and other facilities so as to make the vehicles more viable before looking at the response.
Musk himself confirmed on Twitter previously that Tesla is coming to India, “Next year for sure.” Reports claim that it will be the Model 3 that will be arriving in India first. The company would deliver the pre-booked models and new bookings would only commence in the second half of the year and cars would be priced around Rs 55,00,000.
Tesla Research Center speculation
According to reports, "Tesla held exploratory discussions with Karnataka government officials on September 10, who are seeking a possible investment by the world’s most valuable carmaker in a research facility in Bengaluru".
Tesla, it should be said here, does not have a similar facility outside of the US as of now.
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