Karnataka has pitched Bengaluru
to Tesla’s Indian Gigafactory where it can manufacture electric vehicles and
energy products, sources told Economic Times.
Gaurav Gupta, Principal
Secretary, Commerce & Industries, Karnataka government, exposed the new
venture of Tesla and its launch in Bengaluru. “We have offered them (Tesla) all
support to set up a research and development (R&D) Centre as well as the
manufacturing unit,” he said. “Bengaluru has a favorable ecosystem for electric
vehicles and Tesla can leverage on that,” he added.
Bengaluru is home to many
electric vehicle companies such as such as Ola Mobility, Ather Energy, Mahindra
Electric as well as units of Daimler and Bosch. The city already positive
nature for electric ecosystem that Tesla overtook to become the world’s most
treasured electric car maker in next July, is also aimed on Bengaluru.
Tesla’s first talk in with
government of Karnataka had held on September 10, for new venture and
investments in Bengaluru.
The discussion about setting up
Tesla India facilities are still at preliminary stage, the government is trying
to keep sustained dialogue going, Gupta said.
“We have briefed them about how
Bengaluru is home to promising EV startups and also component makers and the
advantages we offer.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s tweeted on
October 1 that Tesla’s entry to India would be in next year for sure. He was responding to the self-titled 'Tesla
Club India™' account on Twitter.
Senior Analysts expect the big
entry by Tesla into India should be muted due to the cost of the car as well as
lack of infrastructure for electric vehicles, public response and Tesla may not
be ready to invest in infrastructure.
The Tesla model 3, which costs 40
lakh and more, is the first of all its very premium segment for India, it may
be led an issue for Tesla. “There’s no current infrastructure, there’s no
government support, and I don’t think Tesla will invest so much in
infrastructure because there are no economies of scale here,” the analyst told
the publication.
Tesla Shanghai, which overtook
others to become most valuable carmaker in world, that Tesla’s only overseas
manufacturing facility.
If Tesla launched, India will be
the second outside country of US in Asia.