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Happy to partner with Tesla, tweets KT Rama Tao as Elon Musk talks of challenges with govt
The Telangana minister's tweet comes in response to Musk's reply to a Twitter user asking when Tesla will launch in India.
Days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke about challenges with the government when asked about the electric car’s entry into the Indian market, Telangana urban development minister KT Rama Rao reached out to him and extended an invitation to partner with his company.
Rao, who is also the son of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, said their state is a champion in sustainability initiatives and his government would be happy to partner with Tesla in working through the challenges to set up business in the country.
“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. Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India."
Two days ago, Musk, while responding to a Twitter user asking when Tesla will launch in India, said, “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government.”
The leading entrepreneur has been pushing to lower import duties on his Tesla cars in India to make the electric cars widely available.
India is the world's second-most populous country and one of the fastest-growing economies.
However, major Indian automotive producers Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra are opposed to the idea of slashing import duties on automobiles, a LiveMint report stated.
Government sources said that Tesla was free to use the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) window to produce electric vehicles in India.
The reason given by government sources, according to LiveMint, for the delay in Tesla's launch was that Musk wanted to slash import duties without offering any commitment to produce in India.
Earlier on Friday, Musk had announced that Tesla Inc merchandise can be bought using digital currency Dogecoin. The meme coin surged by nearly 20 per cent immediately after the tweet.
