Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa officially confirmed that Elon Musk-owned Tesla would set up an electric car manufacturing unit in Bengaluru.
American electric vehicle company Tesla Inc has been hinting about kick-starting its operations in India for a while. The company is finally closing on an agreement to make electric cars in India. Recently, Tesla registered a subsidiary company in India, after sitting down with state governments to discuss it. On Saturday, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa officially confirmed that Elon Musk-owned Tesla would set up an electric car manufacturing unit in the state.
Yediyurappa said that Tesla has picked the capital of Karnataka, Bengaluru for its first plant. According to various media reports, the company has been discussing and negotiating with local officials for the past six months and is actively considering car assembly in the suburbs of Bangalore.
Reports state that the firm is conducting due diligence for office real estate in the region and plans to set up a Research and Development facility. It also states that Tesla has chosen Bengaluru because the city is shaping up to be a hub for electric vehicles and aerospace manufacturing talent.
Tesla hasn’t released any official statements about this news. However, on January 13, Musk had confirmed on Twitter that Tesla would enter India while responding, “as promised” to a report that stated that the company is in talks with several Indian states.
The difficulties Tesla will face is that India is price-sensitive with domestic EVs in operation already, and that the charging infrastructure in the country is inadequate.
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