Tesla to Start Selling Cars in India in Early 2021; Likely to Setup R&D Centre in Bangalore

* Union minister Nitin Gadkari has confirmed that Tesla will start selling operations in India next year. The company may also set up a manufacturing plant in India if it gets a good response.

US Based Billionaire Elon Musk’s clean energy and electric vehicle company Tesla will start operations in India early next year, confirmed Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.

Tesla is initially expected to sell its vehicles in India, and it would also look at setting up a manufacturing facility at a later stage depending on demand, Gadkari told the media.

Gadkari has already held a few rounds of talks with top Tesla executives. Some states have also held meetings with the electric car company for sales of its vehicles in India.

At a recent media event, Gadkari said there is focus on developing electric cars and added that a lot of Indian firms are also looking at developing electric cars.

US electric vehicle maker Tesla is in talks with the Karnataka government to set up a Research & Development (R&D) centre as well as their manufacturing bases in the state, said Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan during curtain  raiser meet for the 23rd edition of Bangalore Tech Summit.

On Sunday, Musk said Tesla plans to enter the India market in 2021, but not in January. This, however, is not the first time Musk said that Tesla is entering the Indian market. In October, too, the billionaire CEO of Tesla suggested that the company will start India operations “next year for sure".

The report indicated that Tesla would open pre-bookings for its Model 3 vehicle and the deliveries would be made by June. It is unlikely that the company will stitch partnerships with dealerships to sell its car.

Potential customers should note that even though the Model 3 is one of Tesla’s more affordable cars, it will not be cheap in India as they will arrive as completely built units (CBU) with a high import duty charge. While there is no confirmation on the pricing, reports suggest that one Tesla Model 3 will cost Rs 55 lakh in India.