Thanks, but no thanks! 🙂🇮🇳 https://t.co/yeO4qI2gg2
— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) 1653720220000
Aggarwal’s tweet on Saturday came in response to Musk’s statement a day earlier that the US-based electric carmaker wouldn’t manufacture in India till it was permitted to sell and service its cars in the country.
@madhusudhanv96 @PPathole Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed first to sell & service cars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 1653667548000
“Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed first to sell & service cars,” Musk tweeted on Friday.
Tesla’s entry into the country has been on hold since 2019, as the government hasn’t accepted its demand for a cut in import duties. India levies a 60% import duty on electric vehicles priced $40,000 or lower, and 100% if the price is higher.
Aggarwal’s post comes as the domestic EV manufacturer looks for sites to build cells and electric cars. Ola Electric would require 1,000 acres of land for the facilities, which are projected to bring in Rs 10,000 crore in investment.
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The firm already has 500 acres at Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu where it has built its Futurefactory, the world’s largest two-wheeler factory.
Aggarwal has stated that Ola would launch its first electric car in the next 2-3 years, which would be produced at a new plant, separate from the existing Futurefactory.
The Indian government is bullish on EVs and has introduced several incentives to spur manufacturing as well as demand for electric vehicles.
These include the Rs 10,000 crore FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of [Hybrid and] Electric Vehicles in India) and Rs 18,000 crore production-linked incentive schemes.
Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari has previously
urged Tesla to not import vehicles from China. If the EV firm manufactures its cars in India, then it would get the required benefits, Gadkari said earlier this month.
