Tesla Prepares For India Entry, Begins Process To Ship EVs: Report

Elon Musk-led Tesla, which is gearing up for its entry in the Indian market, has reportedly begun the process to ship a few thousand electric cars to a port near Mumbai over the coming months.

Citing sources, Bloomberg reported that the company plans to sell its cars across three major Indian cities – New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru – by the third quarter of the year.

Interestingly, Tesla’s EVs are likely to be shipped from its German facility rather than its China facility, which is nearer to India. A report by the Times of India said that the EV maker has opted for the lengthier shipping route due to concerns raised by the Centre.

Post the shipment, Tesla is likely to work on setting up its own manufacturing unit in the country. The ToI report added that the company has approached a host of state governments, including Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, for setting up the manufacturing unit.

After setting up the new manufacturing facility in India, the company will consequently look to apply for incentives under the central government’s EV policy, which was announced in March 2024.

Under the policy, the Centre said that companies would have to pay lower duty on imports of EVs if they agree to set up manufacturing facilities in the country. The policy outlines that import duty on vehicles with cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value of $35,000 or above will be slashed by 15% for five years for companies which agree to invest at least INR 4,150 Cr (about $500 Mn) in India to set up manufacturing facilities.

Besides, the scheme will be applicable for imports of 8,000 cars of said companies annually in the country. As per the ToI report, the Centre is now preparing to notify the EV policy.

With the policy, the Centre effectively cleared the way for Tesla to enter India. Earlier, Musk criticised the Indian government over high import duties and said Tesla would not manufacture in any country where it was not allowed to sell and service cars first.

While all roads seem to be clear now for Tesla to come to India, US president Donald Trump called Tesla’s India manufacturing plans ‘very unfair’ to the US.

“Every country in the world takes advantage of us, and they do it with tariffs… It is impossible to sell a car, practically, in, as an example, India,”  said Trump in an interview on Fox News. It was a joint interview which also featured Musk alongside the US president.

The US president further said that it’s close to impossible to sell cars in India with import tariffs as high as 100%.

The latest developments come a day after it was reported that Tesla has finalised locations for its first Indian showrooms in New Delhi and Mumbai.

On February 18, the company advertised 13 positions on its website for various full-time roles ranging from vehicle service, sales and customer support to operations positions based in Mumbai.