Financial Times reported on the 3rd (local time) that Tesla, currently struggling with a slowdown in demand for electric vehicles, is planning to invest up to $3 billion in building a new factory in India.
According to the report, Tesla is planning to invest up to $3 billion in India to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s domestic manufacturing policy and is looking for a location to build an electric vehicle factory.
Tesla plans to survey Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, which already have some automotive infrastructure, for a new factory site.
The Narendra Modi government in India has been actively encouraging Tesla’s investment in India to stimulate manufacturing, and Tesla has asked to reduce automobile tariffs in exchange.
It appears that Tesla decided to invest in India and is embarking on a preliminary site survey after the Indian government decided to lower tariffs on specific electric vehicles.
Some point out that Tesla’s new factory may be a stretch when automobile demand slows down in the United States, and price competition is fiercer in China.
However, with a population of 1.4 billion, India is expected to emerge as the world’s largest electric vehicle market, and some argue that Tesla will eventually have to enter the country.
