India's Tesla Dreams Dashed? No tax waivers for Elon Musk’s EV company as they look to set up factories

Elon Musk’s hopes to set up an EV factory in India took a major setback. Apparently, the Indian Finance Ministry is not considering to provide any tax or duty waivers to Tesla. According to Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, the finance ministry of India has no plans to grant any duty or tax exemptions to the American automaker, reported Reuters. In recent weeks, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was encouraging the car company to make substantial investments in India, and an official announcement regarding this matter was expected soon. In previous discussions between the US carmaker and the Indian government, there were attempts to secure waivers for custom duties on imported electric vehicles (EVs), but the Indian authorities rejected these proposals. Malhotra stated, “The Department of Revenue is not actively considering any duty waivers for Tesla at this time.” Last time around, Tesla pulled back from India and went to China, because of a similar situation. In the meantime, sources from the government have revealed that Elon Musk’s renowned company has submitted an initial proposal for establishing manufacturing operations in India. It has been revealed that the company plans to construct a gigafactory with an annual capacity to produce approximately 500,000 electric vehicles. Tesla aims to introduce a diverse range of electric vehicles and establish a robust charging infrastructure on a large scale in India. If Tesla’s plans come to fruition, the company will become India’s third-largest car manufacturer, following Maruti and Hyundai. Earlier reports from Economic Times suggested that Tesla is considering an annual capacity of 500,000 vehicles with a starting price of Rs 20 lakh.