Electric vehicle-maker Tesla is on a hunt for land to begin its manufacturing foray in India, with Maharashtra emerging as the frontrunner, The Economic Times reported on February 19.
Billionaire Elon Musk-led company has zeroed in on Maharashtra as Tesla already has an office in Pune and has a lot of suppliers in the state, the newspaper said citing sources. The report further said that the state government has offered sites near Chakan and Chikhali, both of which are close to Pune. Chakan is one of India’s largest auto manufacturing hub, being home to several large players, including Mercedez Benz, Tata Motors Volkswagen and others.
Tesla’s plans for India received a boost after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Musk during a US trip to meet President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, the report also claimed that the EV firm has called several senior executives at Tata Motors to fill the new positions.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Tesla is shoring up its base in India with hiring plans, signalling it wants to enter the market soon.
The electric-vehicle maker sought candidates for 13 roles, including customer-facing and back-end jobs, according to advertisements on Monday on its LinkedIn page.
Tesla and India have engaged on-and-off for years, but the carmaker had stayed away from the South Asian nation over concerns on high import duties. India’s now reduced basic customs duty on high-end cars priced above $40,000 from 110% to 70%.
While India’s EV market is still nascent compared to China’s, it offers an avenue for Tesla to check slowing sales after it posted its first annual drop in EV sales in over a decade. India’s electric car sales neared 100,000 units last year compared to China’s 11 million.
With agency inputs
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