The rumor mill around Tesla’s entry to Indian EV market finally comes to rest, as the US electric car giant Tesla registered as a company in Karnataka’s Bengaluru. This has prompted Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to welcome CEO Elon Musk to the country and his state.
The Chief Minister twitted” Karnataka will lead India’s journey towards Green Mobility. Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Tesla will soon start its operations in India with an R&D unit in Bengaluru. I welcome @elonmusk to India & Karnataka and wish him all the very best.@PMOIndia@nitin_gadkari@Tesla
— B.S. Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) January 12, 2021”
(however this tweet was removed later )
The carmaker has set up an R&D unit in Bengaluru, confirmed the chief minister via his tweet.
Tesla Motors India and Energy Private Limited was incorporated on January 8 with its registered office in Bengaluru. It has also registered its office in Lavelle Road, a business district in the southern city, with paid-up capital of ₹1 lakh and an authorised capital of ₹15 lakh, according to the filing.
As per the regulatory filing the Indian unit has three directors Vaibhav Taneja, Venkatrangam Sreeram and David Feinstein. David is currently a senior executive at Tesla, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The company is in talks with five state governments- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to set up operations in the country.
Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in December last year announced Tesla’s arrival in India. Gadkari, said the Tesla Model 3 will be launched first in India.
The Model 3 sedan is expected to be priced at around INR 55-60 lakh. Tesla Model 3 is among the most affordable models of Tesla till date. The bookings will apparently start in January.
Tesla’s entry into India comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is increasingly focusing to promote the use of electric vehicles.
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