Tesla Planning to Establish EV assembly plant in India

Tesla is extensively working on setting up an assembly plant to manufacture EVs in India. The company is planning to establish a CKD (Completely Knocked Down), according to news from various sources. 

What is CKD? 

The CKD route of manufacturing means that various parts of the cars are imported and combined together in the country. This process is basically economical and helps in significant reduction of heavy import taxes, which the country charges on fully built imported cars. 

CKD assembly will be aligning accordingly with the India’s make in India policy which promotes domestic production of EVs in the country, which indirectly increases the economy of the country. 

Tesla also worked to build a strategic alliance with Megha Engineering, which is based in Hyderabad for a joint collaboration. However, there was nothing concrete between the two of them. The company is constantly having discussions with Indian firms, but have not reached the final conclusions yet. 

Mumbai's inaugural showroom

Tesla is planning to launch its inaugural showroom in Mumbai. Various news sources indicate that the showroom covers an area of 4,003 sq. ft., which is roughly the size of a basketball court. The contract is of a five-year lease, where the company will be paying approx Rs 3.7 crore in rent exclusively for the first year. 

Leadership Changes Spark Curiosity

As everything appeared to be perfectly aligned, Prashanth Menon, the leader of Tesla India, decided to resign after nearly a decade.  Currently, the China team of Tesla will be managing the India operations. 

This sudden resignation of the India head has sparked various speculations about Tesla’s plans, particularly during a period when the company is facing several setbacks in entering the Indian market.

Is Tesla Ready for the Indian Market?

Tesla’s journey is quite up and down due to delays, headlines and various discussions, however the Indian government is also supporting Tesla by reducing the import taxes on a condition that Tesla will be manufacturing cars in India. 

There are certain positive steps taken by the company such as land searching and hiring, but still there is unpredictability, until something concrete happens.