Billionaire Elon Musk confirmed that his company, Tesla, is "still working through a lot of challenges" with the Indian government before launching a long-awaited project there. This came in response to a tweet on Thursday from a user asking about the launch timeline for Tesla in India.
Tesla is pressuring the Indian government to lower import taxes on electric vehicles before agreeing to start sales in the market. Import taxes in India are 60% on electric vehicles costing $40,000 or less, and 100% on those exceeding $40,000. In a tweet issued last July, Elon Musk claimed that Indian import duties "are the highest in the world compared to any large country so far!"
On its part, the Indian government rejected Musk's claims on Twitter, emphasizing that he is trying to pressure them through social media, wanting lower import taxes without committing to local production.
The Indian electric vehicle market is still in its early stages, but the government aims for at least 65% of all new car sales to be "electric" by 2030. The Indian government wants Tesla to manufacture its cars in India, and the country's transport minister stated to Reuters that they are ready to provide incentives for Elon Musk's company to do so.
Later, Musk tweeted that "it is very likely that Tesla will build an electric vehicle factory in India, but only if it can import complete cars at low tax rates." Last month, the Indian government approved seven variables from Tesla.
