Tesla may have shelved India plans for now: report

Tesla Inc. may have shelved its India plans for now after executives at the US electric carmaker stopped dialling up officials in New Delhi, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Elon Musk’s team hasn’t made enquiries with the officials after the Tesla chief executive postponed his trip to India in April, the report said.

Musk had instead made a surprise visit to China, attracting global attention. His visit to Beijing came amid stiff headwinds globally, and particularly in China, where Tesla is facing challenges amid year-on-year declines in production and sales for two consecutive quarters.

Musk had announced his India visit a few weeks after the Indian government in March approved a ₹41.5 billion (about $500 million) electric vehicle (EV) policy that offered incentives to lure global EV investments and establish India as a key manufacturing hub for advanced EVs.

India is now looking to domestic automakers Tata Motors Ltd and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd to rev up EV production, the report said, adding that Tesla would still be welcome to avail itself of the new import tax policy, should Musk decide to re-engage.

EV sales in India have been climbing gradually. Retail sales of electric cars and sport utility vehicles grew 22.79% in April to 7,415 units from 6,039 units in the same month last year, data collected from regional transport offices showed.

Total EV registrations crossed 1.5 million units by the end of 2023, Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) data showed. Passenger EV sales more than doubled in FY24 to 90,996 units from 47,551 in the previous year.