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The CEO didn’t give any indications on where the new factory would be located but agreed with the moderator that India was “absolutely” an interesting location. However, Musk later clarified that the automaker is “not currently looking at new locations.”
Musk has been trying to crack the Indian market for a while now, even setting up two Tesla subsidiaries in early 2021. However, he faced major hurdles due to the crazy high import duties on electric vehicles, which can reach as high as 100%.
The country wants Musk to promise to manufacture vehicles in the country instead of importing them, but the EV maker argued that India should lower taxes first so that the company could test demand with imported cars before committing to manufacturing.
However, the electric automaker’s stance may have weakened as company executives traveled to India last week to propose setting up a factory to build EVs in the country.
According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s deputy technology minister, Tesla is “very seriously looking at India as a production and innovation base.” He mentioned that Tesla’s interest extends beyond just car manufacturing, stating, “you don’t talk about cars alone.” indicating the possibility of Tesla exploring broader opportunities in India.
Right now, Tesla has several Gigafactories in the US and two more in Berlin, Germany, and Shanghai, China. They also announced earlier this year that they’re going to build a factory in Monterrey, Mexico, starting production in 2024.
Shares of TSLA are down 2.48% in mid-day trading on Wednesday.
