Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa formally welcomes world’s richest entrepreneur to India
Bengaluru, NFAPost: Giving another dimension to India’s ambitious journey to be the epicentre of electric vehicle, billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. has set up a subsidiary in Bengaluru ahead of a planned introduction of its electric cars in India this year.
According to a regulatory filings with Registrar of Companies (RoC), Tesla India Motors and Energy Pvt. Ltd has its registered office at Lavelle Road, part of the central business district in Bengaluru, with a paid-up capital of ₹1 lakh and an authorized capital of ₹15 lakh.
Expressing happiness over the development, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa tweeted that the global electric car maker has set up an R&D unit in Bengaluru.
“Karnataka will lead India’s journey towards Green Mobility. Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Tesla will soon start its operations in India with an R&D unit in Bengaluru. I welcome Elon Musk to India and Karnataka and wish him all the very best,” he tweeted.
B S Yediyurappa also said Karnataka will lead India’s journey towards Green Mobility. “Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Tesla will soon start its operations in India with an R&D unit in Bengaluru. I welcome Elon Musk to India & Karnataka and wish him all the very best,” he tweeted.
Tesla Motors India and Energy Private Limited was incorporated on January 8 with its registered office in Bengaluru, the city which is a hub for third largest startup ecosystem in the world. The regulatory filing shows the Indian unit has three directors including David Feinstein, who is currently a senior executive at Tesla, according to his LinkedIn profile. The other two directors include Vaibhav Taneja and Venkatrangam Sreeram
Cupertino-based Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk had made it clear the company’s grand plans to enter India market “for sure” in 2021. In October, Elon Musk in response to a tweet promised to introduce the brand in Inida by 2021. The company didn’t reveal how it is planning to scale up its investment plans in India.
Interacting with NFAPost, Karnataka Principal Secretary For Commerce and Industries Gaurav Gupta said the state government had been interacting with Tesla for the last few month and it is happy news that the company has decided to incorporate its company here.
“We have impressed upon them that Bengaluru is not only the technology capital but also the aerospace and space capital. For any kind of technology collaboration, it has the right kind of talent pool. How they want to enter and take it forward is left to their judgement. Hopefully, this will lead to a sales office, research and further developments as necessary,” said Gaurav Gupta.
According to sources, Tesla will debut in India with its most affordable offering Model 3 which also forms the bulk of the company’s sales across the globe. Model 3 was introduced in the year 2017 and according to the report, the car will come with an estimated entry price of Rs 55 lakh.
Now tech and automobile enthusiasts are looking at whether Tesla will open its Giga factory to manufacture its cars and use it for export market across the globe.
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently announced that the the US electric car producer would possibly set up a production line in the country if demand were strong enough, although it is understood that infrastructure in India will be an issue.
Tesla’s expected entry comes at a time when the Central and state governments are encouraging higher adoption of green vehicle technologies to help reduce air pollution. Also, India is setting up new ecosystem in the mobility space with startups like Ola, Uber, Bounce, Mahindra Electric, SunMobility, Hero Electric, Ather Energy, Smartron, Zoomcar, Bounce, Lithium and Vogo.
Besides Ola entering EV manufacturing with a two-million two-wheeler EV plant coming up in Tamil Nadu for ₹2,400 crore, recently Ather Energy also announced starting production from its Hosur plant. Other large automakers such as Tata Motors, Mahindra, Hero and Hyundai are pressing ahead with plans to capture a bigger share of India’s nascent EV market that still accounts for less than 1% of the entire automobile market in the country.
The tone for Indian EV market was really set by Maini Group founder S K Maini who unveiled India’s first commercially available electric city car the Reva in 2001. Set up in 1994 by his son Chetan Maini, Reva Electric Car Company initially formed a joint venture with Amerigon Electric Vehicle Technologies from USA. The company exported its car to 26 other markets.
It is interesting to note that Reva Electric Car Company had entered int quite a few technical partnerships with various global companies. The interesting one includes one with GM India in 2009. The company was subsequently bought out by Mahindra in 2010. Later they launched the second-gen Reva as the e20. This company in its current form does business under the Mahindra Electric.
According to Arvian Research, India’s EV market is now growing at an exponential rate backed by government policies and enthusiasm from gen next for electric mobility. “The arrival of Tesla will fuel further give a boost to EV market as the brand is the most aspirational one across the globe. It is a decisive moment in India’s journey of electric mobility and lure more buyers to go for electric mobility,” said Arvian Research consultant.
