Nitin Gadkari, India's Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, did not hold back when talking about Tesla's reluctance to sell vehicles in the subcontinent, as per Business Standard. Gadkari said that Tesla manufacturing its cars in China and then selling those vehicles in India is "not a digestible concept" to all of them.
Gadkari made the remark during an exclusive interview with Network18, which happened just days after he had a meeting with the head of the Indian arm of Tesla. Gadkari said he tried to convince them to start their own facility in India and manufacture their electric vehicles here, but he acknowledged that the ultimate decision would come from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Gadkari said, "Tesla is welcome in India; we don't have any problem." He added that Musk's interest is to "manufacture Tesla cars in China and sell them in India." According to Gadkari, they requested him to start his own plant here, saying that he could get quality production in India and get good sales here.
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Gadkari made it clear that Tesla will have a problem if it insists on making its cars outside the country, with the union minister saying, "Manufacturing in China and selling in India is not a digestible concept to all of us," as reported by Money Control.
Gadkari's heated comments come at a time when the Indian government is involved in a standoff with the world's leading electric car maker over import duties. Musk posted a message on Twitter just last month, saying that Tesla was still working through "a lot of challenges" to launch its vehicles in India.
It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Tesla entered the Indian auto market. The company has already received approval for seven vehicles from India's testing agencies. According to Reuters, Tesla then took its request for lowering import taxes straight to the Indian Prime Minister's Office in September of last year.
The Indian Express reported that Musk and Tesla's request to lower import taxes faced strong opposition from local players, who argued that such a move would hurt domestic manufacturing investments. India imposes a 60 percent import duty on EVs priced $40,000 or less and a 100 percent tariff on EVs that cost above $40,000 to protect its domestic industry.
Tesla's main complaint regarding high import duties on entirely built units of foreign vehicles is that it would restrict the sales of its automobiles and EVs in general. Tesla also said that high duties would make it tougher for them to commit to an investment in India.
The union minister begged to differ with Tesla's statement, saying that India is a huge market with the country's auto industry's turnover at 7.5 lakh crore. Gadkari added that all the reputed auto brands in the world are already in India, including Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Honda Hyundai, and Toyota.
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