Indian Automobile Tycoon Anand Mahindra Hints at Considering Bitcoin Payments for Cars

While the purchase and trading of cryptocurrencies is permitted and taxable in India, no cryptocurrency is used as a payment option alongside the INR currency.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 20 April 2023 18:37 IST

Indian Automobile Tycoon Anand Mahindra Hints at Considering Bitcoin Payments for Cars

Photo Credit: Mahindra

Bitcoin is not a legitimised payment option in India as of yet

Highlights

Anand Mahindra has had the company dabble in NFTs
Mahindra has never revealed if he is a crypto investor himself
Mahindra and Mahindra is one of India’s largest automobile company

Bitcoin, the most expensive cryptocurrency to ever exist, could soon become a car payment option in India. Anand Mahindra, the chairperson of Mahindra and Mahindra, has hinted in a tweet at a future where the crypto asset could come in handy to purchase a car from the company. An Indian business tycoon, Mahindra runs one of India's largest automotive manufacturing corporation that boasts a valuation of $18.3 billion (roughly Rs. 1,50,353 crore).

Mahindra, 67, is an avid Twitter user and often updates his timeline with amusing videos, social commentary, and his personal experiences with life.

Replying to a follower who asked if a Mahindra car could be purchased via Bitcoin payment, the company chief said, “Not yet. But maybe bit by bit in the future,”.

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Not yet. But maybe bit by bit in the future.. https://t.co/pQS0ZQ52Qf
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 20, 2023

Up until now, no automobile brand accepts payments in cryptocurrencies in India.

The government of India is currently working to create a legal framework around crypto activities, in order to mitigate financial and national security risks that the sector could usher in along with its expansion.

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Capable of processing instant cross border transfers of hefty payments, cryptocurrencies are unregulated and keep transactions largely untraceable. The misuse of crypto assets by miscreants could increase cases of money laundering and terror financing among others.

While the purchase and trading of cryptocurrencies is permitted and taxable in India, no cryptocurrency is used as a payment option alongside the INR currency.

For Mahindra, however, hinting at taking an experimentative approach towards crypto payments does not come as quite the surprise.

In March 2022, Mahindra and Mahindra marked its entry into the non-fungible token (NFT) space with the release of its first set of digital collectables, joining the likes of MG Motor India in the automotive space.

While Indian automakers are keeping a restrictive approach towards crypto, payments in cryptocurrencies have become part of the financial systems of other nations like El Salvador and the US.

In the first five months of 2021, Elon Musk's Tesla was actually allowing Bitcoin payments for select products and services. Musk had also discussed about opening payments in DOGE for the EV at the time.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Anand Mahindra, Mahindra

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More