Maharashtra woos Tesla with ‘VIP treatment’, special incentives

Our Bureau The Maharashtra government is trying to woo Tesla to set up a manufacturing base and an R&D facility in the State.

State Industries Minister Subhas Desai and Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray held a video conference with Tesla’s senior management. This comes after Elon Musk, founder of the iconic electric vehicle brand, tweeted that Tesla could enter the Indian market next year. The Karnataka government is also trying to get Tesla set up an R&D centre in the State.

A press statement issued by Desai’s office said the Maharshtra government is rolling out the red carpet to the company. Desai told the Global Director of Tesla, Rohan Patel, that the 2019 industrial policy of Maharashtra lays special emphasis on non-polluting e-vehicles.

The State government will accord customised “VIP treatment along with commensurate basic infrastructure facilities and special incentives for the company to make its foray into the India automotive industry,” he added.

Desai further said the State government is bullish on futuristic technology that offers non-polluting alternatives to conventional applications and has decided upon a course that, moving forward, will offer companies such as Tesla a significant business advantage. Tesla can get a foothold in the Indian automobile sector alongwith special incentives through the investment in the facility, the statement said

Will he? Won’t he?

But it is not confirmed if Musk will enter India any time soon. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met him at Tesla’s headquarters after which the company had expressed interest in setting up a lithium ion manufacturing facility in India. But that plan is yet to take off.

Tesla enjoys a market capitalisation of $394 billion and currently accounts for a 20 per cent share of the global markets for electric vehicles of the plug-in and charge varieties.

It has set up factories in the US, the Netherlands, China and Germany.