Musk breaks silence, says coming to India ‘as promised’
Breaking his silence after the news broke that Tesla has finally entered India by registering it as a company in Bengaluru, its CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he is on the way to fulfil his promise to let electric cars run on the roads of the country.
According to the details available on the Registrar of Companies website, Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited has been incorporated and the registered address is in Lavelle Road, Bengaluru.
Reacting to his 41.2 million followers, Musk tweeted on making India his next destination: “As promised”.
Musk, who communicates on all important company issues via Twitter, however, did not divulge any further details on his India plans.
In October last year, Musk, who overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest man with a whopping $195 billion net worth, had said that the electric car maker is finally ready to enter the India market next year.
Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa tweeted on Tuesday to inform that Tesla is setting up its research and development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru to commence its India operations soon.
The Karnataka government had made a strong pitch to invite Tesla to the state.
“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,” Yediyurappa had tweeted.
Tesla is also in touch with other state governments like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to start its India operations.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said last month that Tesla will begin operations with sales in early 2021 and then “maybe” look at assembling and manufacturing vehicles in the country.
Tesla sales teams are currently working on building custom sales and production orders for the India market, ensuring orders are complete and validated once the configuration is finished.
The move will also open India to select as one of the countries where Tesla cars can be purchased.
Tesla officials had held talks with the Karnataka government in September last year for opening its research facility in this tech hub. The R&D unit in India is Tesla’s second outside the US. Its first such overseas centre is in Shanghai where it has a Gigafactory to make electric cars.
The tech-savvy Karnataka is the first state in the country to have an electric vehicle policy to woo investments in the sunrise sector. A slew of startups like Ola Electric, Sub Mobility and Ather have set up their operations in the city.
