Still Working Through ‘A Lot Of Challenges’ With Indian Govt: Elon Musk On Long-Awaited Tesla Launch

Last July, Musk had tweeted that Tesla wanted to enter India, “but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country”.

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New Delhi: Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday said that Tesla Inc, the US electric-vehicle pioneer, was “working through” a lot of challenges with the Indian government.

The comment from Elon Musk comes as he has previously talked about the plans to launch Tesla cars in India, however, reportedly the negotiations over import duties and local manufacturing have led to an impasse.

When a Twitter user asked Elon Musk about Tesla’s India launch, the billionaire CEO responded writing: “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government”.

Still working through a lot of challenges with the government

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2022

Last July, Musk had tweeted that Tesla wanted to enter India, “but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country”.

A 100 per cent tax is imposed on electric vehicles worth more than $40,000 for import in India, it is 60 per cent for those costing $40,000 or less.

According to Bloomberg, the Tesla CEO and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration have been in talks for years, however, there have been disagreements over a local factory and the country’s import duties. 

As per the report, the Indian government wants Tesla Inc to ramp up local procurement and share detailed manufacturing plans. On the other hand, Elon Musk sought lower taxes so that Tesla can begin selling imported vehicles at a cheaper price in a cost-sensitive Indian market. 

In a bid to boost local manufacturing, the Indian government has introduced incentives for foreign carmakers but Elon Musk said he wants to gauge demand with imports first, news agency AFP reported.