Tesla’s Elon Musk and India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to Discuss EV Market Entry and India Local Manufacturing Plans
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is set to meet Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the United States next week. The meeting is aimed at advancing Tesla’s plans to enter the South Asian market.
Discussions between Goyal and Musk will center around Tesla’s plans to set up an Indian factory, manufacturing a $24,000 car there, sourcing more components, and establishing charging infrastructure across the nation. They are also likely to discuss a new policy India is working on, which will allow automakers to import fully built EVs into India at a reduced tax rate of 15%, down from as much as 100% now, if they commit to some local manufacturing.
This meeting is seen as a significant step since the Tesla boss met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June and later expressed his keenness to make significant investments in the country. The Indian government is also analyzing the impact the new policy could have on the Indian EV market, as local carmakers have often said lower EV import taxes could disrupt the market and hurt their plans
