Tesla to Discuss Factory Plan for New Rs. 20 Lakh Electric Car With Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

The discussions are expected to centre around setting up an EV supply chain and discussing land allotment for a factory.

By Reuters | Updated: 24 July 2023 19:13 IST

Tesla to Discuss Factory Plan for New Rs. 20 Lakh Electric Car With Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

Rs. 20 lakh price point would be 25 percent cheaper than Tesla's current lowest priced offering

Highlights

Elon Musk met PM Narendra Modi last month over investment plans
The target price for the new vehicle was reported earlier this month
Tesla executives visited India and held talks with officials in May

Tesla representatives are set to meet India's commerce minister this month to discuss plans to build a factory to produce what the company has described as an all-new $24,000 (roughly Rs. 20 lakh) car, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Tesla has expressed an interest in building a factory in India that would produce low-cost electric vehicles (EVs) for the local market and for export, the person said, adding that the company had indicated that it would be for the new vehicle.

The meeting with the commerce minister would be the highest level discussions between Tesla and the Indian government since June when Elon Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he intended to make a significant investment in the country.

Elon Musk Sets New Targets for Tesla's Self-Driving Software, Factory Robots

The Rs. 20 lakh ($24,000) EV Tesla representatives were said to have described in discussions about a potential Indian plant would be 25 percent cheaper than its current lowest priced offering, the Model 3 sedan which sells for the equivalent of just over $32,200 (roughly Rs. 26 lakh) in China.

The $24,000 target price for the new Tesla vehicle was reported earlier this month by The Times of India newspaper.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk Must Focus on Tesla as EV Rivals Pick Up Pace, Investors Say in Survey

Reuters reported in May that Tesla executives visited India and held talks with officials on establishing a manufacturing base for cars and batteries in India.

Discussions with Indian government officials in New Delhi are scheduled to resume this month, two people with knowledge of the talks, who asked not to be named because the discussions remain private, told Reuters.

As part of that, Tesla representatives are set to meet Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal, the first person said, and discussions are expected to centre around setting up an EV supply chain and discussing land allotment for a factory.

Tesla in Talks to Set Up India Plant, Cars to Start at Rs. 20 Lakh: Report

The commerce ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Will the Nothing Phone 2 serve as the successor to the Phone 1, or will the two co-exist? We discuss the company's recently launched handset and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.