When Musk lands in India, the red carpet for Tesla and a few red flags
Financial Express Mumbai|April 15, 2024
WHEN TESLA CHIEF Elon Musk is expected to land in India. later this month to announce his electric vehicle (EV) investment plans, he will wish for a red carpet no doubt - but there will also be a few red flags in the wings.
ANIL SASI
When Musk lands in India, the red carpet for Tesla and a few red flags

Under pressure in China where local players have outsmarted him, facing tech disruptions in the industry, and a general demand slowdown, for Musk, the India story is as important as the EV story is for India. New Delhi hopes the entry of the marquee EV flagbearer, just like it was in China, will be a catalyst for its domestic electric four-wheeler push. So much so that after turning down Tesla's demand for upfront import duty cuts two years ago, it believes the latest cuts, with a post-dated investment pledge and progressive localisation targets, are worth it.

The key issues that will frame the talks with Tesla: Policy rethink: The new EV policy, which effectively lowered import duties to 15% from 100% on car models costing over $35,000 if its manufacturer promised to invest $500 million in setting up a local factory, is being seen as a move to welcome Tesla.

This marks a part reversal of the domestic manufacturing policy push given that the duty cuts are aimed at enabling a carmaker to import fully built cars made in a foreign country, even though there is an implicit promise of building a factory at a future date backed by bank guarantees, and progressively increasing domestic manufacturing targets.

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