Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier said that Tesla has a golden opportunity to set up its manufacturing facility in India as the country is focusing on e-vehicles.
The Ministry of Heavy Industry has asked US-based electric car major Tesla to start manufacturing its iconic first electric vehicles in india Government sources said any tax concession can be considered before that.
He said the government is not giving such concessions to any auto firm and giving duty benefits to Tesla will not augur well for other companies investing billions of dollars in India.
Tesla has sought reduction in import duty on electric vehicles (EVs) in India.
Currently, cars imported as Completely Built Units (CBUs) range from 60% to 100% depending on engine size and cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value of less than or more than $40,000 comes with a fee.
In a letter to the Roads Ministry, the US firm had said the effective import duty of 110% on vehicles with customs duties over $40,000 is “prohibitive” for zero-emissions vehicles.
It has urged the government to standardize tariffs on electric cars to 40% irrespective of customs value, and withdraw the social welfare surcharge of 10% on electric cars.
It is stated that these changes will spur the growth of the Indian EV ecosystem and the company will make significant direct investments in sales, service and charging infrastructure; and significantly increase procurement from India for its global operations.
The company has argued that these proposals will not have any negative impact on the Indian automotive market as currently no Indian OEM produces a car (EV or ICE) whose ex-factory price is more than $40,000 and in India. Only 1-2% of cars sold (EV or ICE) have an ex-factory/customs value exceeding $40,000.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that Tesla has a golden opportunity to set up its manufacturing facility in India, as the emphasis is on e-vehicles in the country.
The Road Transport and Highways Minister had said that Tesla is already sourcing various auto components from Indian automakers and setting up a base here would be economically viable.
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