Elon Musk took to Twitter yesterday to note that Tesla is still working through a lot of challenges with the Indian government before it can officially launch in the country.
Still working through a lot of challenges with the government
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2022
Tesla has been working since 2019 to bring its EVs to the Indian market. However, talks between the Indian government and Tesla broke down earlier this year over import duties.
Tesla is asking Indian officials to lower import duties to test the market before opening a local production facility.
However, Indian officials are not backing down.
Presently, import duties are some of the highest in the world. On fully imported vehicles with a value of more than $40,000, the import duty is 100 per cent.
In contrast, vehicles below the $40,000 price point are at 60 per cent.
Tesla is not alone in this ask. BMW, Volkswagen AG’s India unit and Hyundai Motor India support lowering tariffs. However, we have seen no movement on the Indian government’s side.
Tesla is not the only Elon Musk-led company facing bureaucratic and government issues in India. SpaceX recently offered full refunds for their Starlink internet pre-order after government officials notified SpaceX they did not have a licence to provide internet services.
