Elon Musk, the CEO and founder of Tesla, has said that India is on the company's radar for the location of a new production, days after a Tesla team visited India. In an interview, Musk said that the electric car maker will pick a fresh location for a new factory by the close of this year, and added that India could be an interesting proposition for such an expansion.
Asked which would be the most exciting country to build a Tesla plant right now, Musk said, “We did make an announcement that Mexico would be our next location outside the US. We’ll probably pick another location towards the end of this year.”
On whether India will be an “interesting” contender for this move, he said, “Absolutely. ” Musk’s words, even while being non-committal on India, set off speculations that the electric carmaker may finally be looking at India seriously, especially as he has previously expressed his desire to launch his cars here even while complaining of “challenges” and high import duty in doing so.
The buzz is growing more credible as a result of the government's openness about bringing the company to India and the visit by the Tesla team barely a week ago. The business had previously asked for a reduction in import taxes so that it could temporarily import cars into the nation.