Mumbai: Another state has now invited US billionaire Elon Musk to invest after he said that electric car pioneer Tesla was “working through” a lot of challenges with the Indian government ahead of long-awaited plans to launch in the country.
After Telangana’s invitation earlier this week, a Maharashtra minister today offered Mr. Musk a place to set up Tesla’s manufacturing plant in his state.
Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, in a reply to Mr. Musk’s tweet, said, “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,” the Nationalist Congress Party leader added.
Earlier yesterday, Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao had invited Tesla Inc’s chief Elon Musk to set up his outlet in Telangana and that the government had no issue and would be happily partner Tesla in working through the challenges” it is facing in India.
The minister’s invitation comes a day after the billionaire said that Tesla Inc is “still working through a lot of challenges with the government” in India to launch its electric cars.
“Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India. Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana,” Mr Rao said in a reply to Mr Musk’s tweet.
Mr Musk, while replying to a Twitter user on Thursday who’d asked if there was any update on Tesla’s launch in India, had not identified the “challenges” being worked on with the government.
The Tesla CEO and the centre have been in talks for years, but disagreements over a local factory and the country’s import duties of as much as 100 per cent have led to an impasse. Tesla has been lobbying the government to slash import taxes on electric vehicles before it enters the market.
Tesla is expected to face competition from other foreign players, including Mercedes-Benz, which announced Wednesday it’ll roll out a locally assembled EQS — the electric version of its flagship S-Class sedan — in India by the fourth quarter.
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