Global EV giant Tesla is not interested in manufacturing cars in India, but keen on establishing showrooms in the country, Union Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Monday.
US President Donald Trump has said that if Tesla were to build a factory in India to circumvent that country’s tariffs, it would be “unfair” to the US. “Tesla... They are more interested only to start showrooms. They are not interested to start manufacturing in India," Kumaraswamy told reporters.
The minister made the remarks at a press conference to announce the unveiling of guidelines for the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Cars in India. “So far, Tesla has not shown interest. The Tesla representative only participated in the first round of stakeholder discussions for the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Cars in India. The company's representative was not part of the second and third round of the stakeholder deliberations,” said an official.
Tesla CEO billionaire Elon Musk had said in April last year that his visit to India has been delayed due to the company’s heavy obligations.
Mercedes Benz, Hyundai, Kia interested
Global automobile makers, including Mercedes Benz, Skoda-Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia, have shown interest in manufacturing electric cars in India, Kumaraswamy said.
The companies have expressed interest during the stakeholder discussions between the government and the industry regarding the “Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India”, the detailed guidelines for which were unveiled by the minister. While the scheme was notified on March 15 last year, its guidelines were issued on Monday.
Officials said the window to apply under the scheme will open in a couple of weeks, and it remains to be seen which companies would actually go ahead and apply. To encourage the global manufacturers to invest under the scheme, the approved applicants will be allowed to import Completely Built-in Units (CBUs) of e-4W with a minimum CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value of US $35,000 at reduced customs duty of 15 per cent for a period of five years from the application approval date.
Approved applicants would be required to make a minimum investment of Rs 4,150 crore in line with the provisions of the scheme. The window for receiving applications through the notice Inviting applications will be for a period of 120 days or more. Further, the Ministry of Heavy Industries will have the right to open the application window, as and when required till March 15, 2026.
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