American electric car giant Tesla has finally come to India. As per reports, Tesla has set up its Indian subsidiary in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The American carmaker has incorporated a fully owned subsidiary ahead of setting up an R&D unit and a manufacturing plant for its electric vehicles in India.
The unit was registered as Tesla Motors and Energy Private Ltd and was incorporated on January 8. Vaibhav Taneja, Venkatrangam Sreeram, and David Jon Feinstein have been named as directors.
In December 2020, while responding to a Twitter user, Tesla chief Elon Musk had said that if Tesla India may not happen in January 2021, it was still definitely happening in 2021. Earlier in October 2020, too, Musk had confirmed that his company’s plan to launch operations in India from the next year. While responding to a tweet about when Tesla plans to enter the Indian market, Elon responded, “Next year for sure.”
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reaffirmed Tesla’s entry in India in 2021
Earlier, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had also confirmed that the American electric vehicle company would be entering the Indian market in 2021 in a conversation during Indian Express Idea Exchange programme. Gadkari had said that Tesla is set to start its operations in India next year, adding that the company would also look at setting up a manufacturing unit based on demand.
“American auto major Tesla will have its distribution facility (sale centres) for its cars in India from next year and considering the demand it would look into setting up of manufacturing here. India has the potential to become the largest EV (electric vehicle) producer in the world in the next five years,” Gadkari said while speaking to media.
Highlighting India’s power surplus and the push by the Indian government for e-mobility solutions, Gadkari had said, “The Centre intends to have an electric vehicle sales penetration of 30 per cent for private cars, 70 per cent for commercial cars, 40 per cent for buses, and 80 per cent for two and three-wheelers by 2030 by providing various incentives, which are likely to drive the growth of EV market in India.”
