Super electric car maker Elon Musk ready to enter India

- Elon Musk wants tax relief

- Musk tweeted that there are many challenges in India, the government says produce here and get tax relief

AHMEDABAD: It looks like it will take some time for the world's fastest and longest range electric motor car to run on Indian roads. Due to the Government of India's policy of encouraging local manufacturers, huge import tax is levied on imported cars. Tesla Inc., for the past one year, has been pressuring the Indian government to reduce import taxes to make sales in India possible. Today, Tesla founder and world's richest man Alan Musk tweeted that there are many challenges in India and increased the pressure on the government.

However, the Government of India clearly believes that there is no need to come under such pressure. If Tesla wants to sell in India, it can import car parts on which duty is less and here it can make the whole car in one assembly plant and sell it in India. In that case, it would be cheaper for Tesla to sell assembled cars than a whole finished car.

A Twitter user asked Alan Musk if there were any updates on Tesla's launch in the South Asian country. In response, Musk tweeted, "There are still many challenges facing the Indian government. Attempts are being made to resolve many issues. It will take time for Tesla to launch in India.

It should be noted that even before investing a single penny in India, the Alan Musk government had Tesla's ile. It has demanded a sharp reduction in import duty on cars and other facilities. Tesla's demand has been opposed by Indian companies, who say doing so would hurt local entities.

Earlier in October, an Indian minister said he had advised Tesla to refrain from selling Chinese-made cars in the country and to set up a factory in India to manufacture, sell and export electric vehicles. Like China, India is a very promising market for electric vehicles.

In response to Musk's new tweet, the Indian government said in an unofficial statement that there was no need to raise such pressure. Tesla will not get any relief in import duty. The company can avail all the benefits by setting up a factory in India. Tesla is eligible to take advantage of the Government of India's announced Production Linked Incentive Scheme for both automobile and electric vehicles in India. Tesla registered one of its subsidiaries in India in July 2021 and has also hired some employees. The company's seven vehicles are also returning for testing on Indian roads.

It is worth mentioning that India imposes 100 per cent duty on electric cars imported from abroad which is the highest among all the countries in the world, against which Alan Musk has objected. Due to heavy imports, foreign companies have to go to India. Having trouble selling vehicles. With this in mind, Masjid-Benz has recently decided to start manufacturing its luxury electric cars in India.

If Tesla does not start full production in India, it has two options. If a fully manufactured vehicle is imported to India on which 100 per cent duty is paid or the car is partially imported and reassembled here, in such cases Tesla has to pay 50 per cent duty.

Tesla currently has 14 models available in the market. The model, which sells for less than 50,000 in the US, can be sold in India for Rs 3 lakh with 100 per cent duty in the first option and the car can be priced between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6 lakh in the second option.