India's finance ministry rejects duty waivers for Tesla, investment talks continue

India's finance ministry has confirmed that it is not currently considering any duty waivers for Tesla, according to Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra. This statement comes in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's recent claim that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was urging the company to make a substantial investment in the country.

"Any duty waiver for Tesla is not under active consideration of the Department of Revenue, as of now," Malhotra told Reuters on Thursday.

In the past, discussions between Tesla and the Indian government involved the possibility of seeking customs duty waivers for importing the company's electric vehicles, a request that was previously turned down by India. However, as of now, the Department of Revenue has stated that it is not actively considering any duty waivers for Tesla.

Meanwhile, reports from the Times of India suggest that Tesla is engaging in talks with the Indian government regarding an investment proposal for establishing a factory with an annual capacity to produce approximately 5,00,000 electric vehicles. Government sources have indicated that the discussions are underway. Additionally, Tesla is exploring the potential of using India as an export hub to ship cars to countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

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Tesla's entry plans into the Indian market were previously delayed when the government declined to lower import taxes on its vehicles. India imposes an import tax of up to 100 per cent on electric vehicles. While India has expressed interest in Tesla manufacturing vehicles locally, the company has expressed its desire to initially export cars to the country to assess demand.

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