
As per the reports, the Government of India is working to ramp up the approvals for Elon Musk’s Tesla and the timeline has been set for January 2024
Taking baby towards the expansion of electric mobility in the country as well as to promote manufacturing activities in the light of the ‘Make in India’ program, the Indian government has decided to fast-track the process of approvals for Elon Musk’s Tesla.
As per the latest media reports, during a meeting involving the concerned government department’s top official and the Prime Minister’s office, the agenda of developing India as the hub for electric vehicle manufacturing was discussed. In addition to this, the major focus was given to Tesla’s investment proposal for setting up battery and vehicle manufacturing facility in the country.
During the meeting, the concerned government and ministries including Commerce and Industry, Electronics and Information Technology and Heavy Industry were roped in to fast-track the process of approvals for the US-based electric car manufacturer. Earlier this year, the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US during his visit.
Furthermore, the senior executive of the American EV manufacturer have already expressed their interest in setting up large-scale manufacturing facility in the country including the whole supply chain system. The concerned ministries have been directed to sort out the hurdles in the process in an organised manner, giving way for the company to make official announcements in India by January 2024.
Talking about the hurdles, Tesla was demanding a reduced import duty of 40% for the import of its fully assembled electric cars. As per India’s current tax regime, the import duty on fully assembled (CBU) cars stands at 60% for vehicles priced below $40,000 and anything above it demands a heavy import tax of 100%. This is one of the reasons why luxury cars are comparatively expensive in India.
The high import duty is levied to encourage local manufacturing and the law does not have any different classification for electric vehicles and regular ICE cars. In light of recent events, the Indian government can introduce a new category for electric vehicles with lower taxes and it would be applied not only to Tesla but any company willing to set up a manufacturing facility in the country, said the report.