Elon Musk-led Tesla is likely to make its foray into the Indian market by directly importing cars from its gigafactory in Germany, according to a report. This comes after the Centre has reportedly dissuaded Tesla from importing any car from its Shanghai facility.
A source was quoted in the report as saying that the rising geopolitical tensions between India and China is the main reason for the Centre to deny Tesla. Moreover, India and Germany had recently inked pacts on several disciplines, which the US car maker may leverage.
The carmaker is also planning to double the German plant’s capacity to 1 million vehicles a year but has not provided an update on how many cars it produces there since March when it said it had produced 5,000 vehicles in a week – equivalent to around 250,000 annually.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office held a meeting with various ministries on Monday to expedite the new EV policy. The third person added the government is also analysing 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.