Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk in a tweet expressed the reason for not having any presence in India. He attributed government regulations as the major hurdle for Tesla’s entry into the country of 1.3 billion population.
He added that Tesla Motors chief financial officer who is also from India would decide on the timeframe.
“Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately. Deepak Ahuja, our CFO, is from India. Tesla will be there as soon as he believes we should,” Musk said in the tweet.
Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately. Deepak Ahuja, our CFO, is from India. Tesla will be there as soon as he believes we should.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 30, 2018
He was replying to a follower who expressed sadness for no Tesla presence in India as Musk tweeted the link to the global map of Tesla Superchargers, including those coming soon.
No Tesla in India pic.twitter.com/NDtPEVYD0A— vinit swami (@yoyovinzi) May 30, 2018
Deepak Ahuja, the man who Musk has entrusted with the decision to enter India is an IIT-BHU 1985 batch alumnus. He then went on to study at the Northwestern University and Carnegie Mellon University. Ahuja joined Tesla Motors in 2008 and left in 2015. He re-joined the automaker in 2017.
In May last year, Musk had in a tweet said, “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.”
The government, via its Make in India Twitter account, clarified that there was no such hurdle.
.@elonmusk With respect to news reports on launch plans of Tesla in India being delayed, please note some key clarifications#MakeInIndia pic.twitter.com/9RFICGM9Kk— Make in India (@makeinindia) May 23, 2017
Musk, later in June indicated that he was in talks with the Indian government. “In discussions with the government of India requesting temporary relief on import penalties/restrictions until a local factory is built,” he had said.
In the same month, Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra also invited Musk to be part of the evolving electric vehicle market in India.
The Indian government has been rooting for the electric transport and has ambitious plans to make India a 100% EV-enabled nation.
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