Elon Musk-led electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla has finalized a deal to open its first showroom in India at Mumbai’s upscale Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), The Times of India reported. The showroom will span 4,000 square feet on the ground floor of a commercial tower in BKC, with the company reportedly paying one of the highest rents for commercial space, Rs 900 per square foot, or around Rs 35 lakh per month.
Tesla has signed a five-year lease for the showroom and is also working on opening a second showroom in Delhi’s Aerocity, the report added.
The lease finalisation comes just two weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to the United States. Following the meeting, Tesla posted job listings for 13 positions in India.
"We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about, such as space, mobility, technology, and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering Minimum Government, Maximum Governance," PM Modi had said after meeting Musk earlier this month.
According to an earlier report by CNBC-TV18, Tesla is considering importing vehicles from its Berlin factory to sell in India, with plans to introduce an EV priced under $25,000. In the US, Tesla’s most affordable model, the Model 3, starts at $35,000 (approximately Rs 30.4 lakh) at the factory level.
While Musk has not yet committed to setting up manufacturing in India, Tesla is already sourcing components worth over a billion dollars from the country. This figure is expected to rise significantly in the coming months, CNBC-TV18 reported.
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