Tesla to set up electric car factory in Karnataka

Elon Musk announced the official entry of the Tesla brand in the Indian market after years of waiting. Tesla announced the top Indian management and its official address in India too. Tesla will also set-up a car manufacturing unit in Karnataka, India as per a government document.

The government document accessed by Reuters indicates that Tesla will set-up the Indian plant in the state of Karnataka. Tesla has set-up its office in Bengaluru, which is the capital of Karnataka. While Elon Musk and Tesla are yet to comment on the development and the upcoming plant, according to Reuters, the state government said that the firm will also open an electric car manufacturing unit in the state.

Chief Minister of Karnataka, B.S. Yediyurappa said in a tweet that Tesla will set-up a Research and Development facility in Bengaluru but there is no information on the manufacturing plant. We are not sure if the statement made on Saturday refers to the same R&D facility.

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There is a lot of excitement over the Tesla coming to India, especially among the ministers of the union and the state government. Nitin Gadkari, the union minister of roads and highway infrastructure in India himself shares the report on Tesla’s progress in the Indian market and also shared when Tesla confirmed its entry into the Indian market. Gadkari had also urged Elon Musk to open a manufacturing facility in India some time ago. However, with a high amount of taxes, there was no development on the same.

The Indian government is planning to offer incentives worth $4.6 billion in incentives to the companies who set-up advanced battery manufacturing facilities in India.

Tesla has set-up Gigafactory in China

Image courtesy AutomobiliArdent

Tesla has set-up a Gigafactory in neighbouring China recently. The massive facility currently hosts the assembly of the Tesla Model 3 and in the future, the Model Y will be manufactured here too. Tesla plans to produce about 3,000 units of cars every week initially front this plant but a later stage, the production will increase to about 2.5 lakh units per year. Tesla completed the Gigafactory in 2019. There will be additional facilities to manufacture powertrain, seats, motors and more such equipment.

India will get the Tesla models as Completely Build Units or CBUs. Tesla India is most likely to import the vehicles from the Chinese Gigafactory as it is the closest Tesla plant near India.

Tesla will first launch the Model 3, which is the base version of the vehicle in the Indian market. Later, depending on the success and demand for the first vehicle, Tesla will decide to launch the other models in the Indian market.

There are many enthusiasts who have been waiting eagerly to own a Tesla in India. However, since it will be a CBU, the base price of the vehicle is expected to be around Rs 60 lakh at the least. There are already a few Tesla cars on the Indian roads but all of them are privately imported by the buyers.

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