Some earlier reports suggested that the Indian government is considering some duty rebates for the American electric carmaker. Even though we were expecting the ball to fall on the side of Tesla, the Indian government has denied offering any import duty concessions. The ministry urges Tesla to start local assembly with SKD units that will attract considerably lesser import duties. Hence Tesla could assemble cars in India via the SKD and CKD routes.

Tesla could assemble cars in India

The ministry of heavy industries has told Tesla that the government doesn’t plan to offer concessions for only an intent of future investment in the Indian market. The government suggests Tesla to start local assembly, thus reduce costs. A government official said, “Offering duty concessions when someone will consider investing after two-three years will be a reversal of a policy that we have followed for several years, and will be unfair to existing players,”

Tesla is considering entering the Indian market and the fan base supports their future endeavours wholeheartedly. But Elon, the brand’s CEO, always cited the high import duties as the main barrier. As the government has now announced its plans not to offer any concessions, Tesla may have to go with local assembly to start with. If received a good response, then the brand should consider full-fledged production of its cars, as per the government. Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are the two fresh products that could make their way to the Indian market. Both the Model 3 and Model Y have been spied multiple times on tests on the Indian soil.

If you enjoyed reading this article, make sure to read more interesting stories on the Carorbis Blog and also read Tesla Homologates Four EV Models for India