After Telangana, two more states invite Elon Musk to set up Tesla factory

After Telangana, now Maharashtra has invited Tesla CEO Elon Musk to set up the EV manufacturer's plant in the state. Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil on Sunday wrote on Twitter that the state could be a place to set up up Tesla's manufacturing plant to manufacture electric cars in India.

The West Bengal government too has invited Tesla to set up its car manufacturing plant in the state. West Bengal minister Md Ghulam Rabbani on Saturday replied to Elon Musk's tweet where the Tesla CEO wrote that his company is still working through a lot of challenges with the Indian government in starting operation in the country.

On Sunday, Jayanta Patil replied to the same tweet saying that Maharashtra is one of the most progressive states in India. “We will provide you all the necessary help from Maharashtra for you to get established in India. We invite you to establish your manufacturing plant in Maharashtra," he wrote on Twitter.

The responses to Elon Musk's tweet comes when the Telangana government has already shown interest in hosting Tesla's Ev manufacturing plant in India. Telangana's industry and commerce minister KT Rama Rao on Twitter wrote that his government will be happy to partner with Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop. "Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top-notch business destination in India," Rao wrote.

Despite showing interest in starting manufacturing and business operations in India for quite some time, Elon Musk had raised concern in August last year saying that Indian import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country, which is impacting the OEM's plan to start a business here.

India currently imposes customs duty ranging between 60-100 per cent on imported cars. India slaps 100 per cent import duty on fully imported cars with CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) value over $40,000, while 60 per cent duty is imposed on cars that cost less than the amount. Only the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus is priced below $40,000. In that case, if Tesla has to import Model 3 to India via CBU (completely built unit) route, it is expected to cost roughly around ₹70 lakh.

While the Indian government wants Tesla to share its plans of production in India first before committing any reduction on import duties, the EV maker thinks launching its cars here at existing tax rates will not be a viable business option for the company.