Tesla is moving closer to entering the Indian market as a domestic automaker after it held talks with Invest India on Thursday.
Tesla and India have been in talks for years, but things have never been as serious or as close to happening until now. The delays over the past years have been related to India’s desire for Tesla to establish a production facility there.
Meanwhile, Tesla was adamant about testing demand through imports, but India’s hefty import duties and lack of interest in rolling the back have both held the entire process up.
Over the past two months, Tesla and India have made significant headway on a deal, as there have already been talks on a factory that would build a $24,000 compact electric vehicle for both domestic customers and to export to other countries.
Now, talks are apparently moving forward once again after Tesla executives met with Invest India CEO Nivruti Rai.
According to Reuters, who initially reported the meeting, Tesla’s Rohan Patel and Roshan Thomas were the two in the meeting, as they are currently in New Delhi to discuss what else needs to be ironed out before a factory can be built.
There are ‘many’ Indian states hoping to land the factory that Tesla is likely to build in the country. However, there are still things that need to be ironed out on the federal level before things like location are finalized.
In the past, Tesla has been linked to various regions in India, including Maharashtra and Karnataka.
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