Elon Musk Spills The Beans, Reveals Why Tesla Is Not Making In India

We have all been wondering why Tesla is not making in India, inspite of Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari offering them land near ports. Today (22 May), Tesla co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk answered that question.

Yes, the biggest hindrance to ‘Making In India’ may be the ‘Make In India’ policy itself. In order to gain benefits under Prime Minister Modi’s flagship programme, a foreign investor needs to source 30 per cent of their components locally, from within India.

There is, however a waiver granted to some manufacturers from this 30 per cent rule – if it manages to get its manufactured goods classified as ‘cutting-edge’ or’state-of-the-art’. But, that may not work out always. The last major applicant for it – Apple – was not granted the waiver. The discretion in granting the waiver lies entirely in the hands of the government, which in Apple’s case had ruled that the company’s technology was neither cutting-edge nor state-of-the-art.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi too had applied for the waiver, but later on stated that it did not require it as it had planned to begin sourcing components locally.

Tesla’s technology is certainly cutting edge, and hopefully, the babus of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) won’t deny it that waiver, if the company decides to apply for it. Without this waiver, Indian’s electric vehicle revolution will suffer a major setback.

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