Tesla coming to India this summer; Elon Musk confirms to Twitter user

Silicon Valley-based electric car maker, Tesla, is planning to launch its operations in India this summer. The company’s CEO Elon Musk, confirmed the India journey to Twitter user Ishan Goel. “@elonmusk eagerly waiting for Tesla to launch in India. Any plans to do it? If so then WHEN?” was the query. Musk responded by saying: “@goel_ishan Hoping for summer this year”

Hoping for summer this year

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2017

Tesla may enter the market with Model 3. Musk had hinted the development last year, in April, when he had tweeted that its incoming Model 3 will be launched in new markets including India, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Ireland.

Adding several more countries to Model 3 order page tonight. Check for details, but will include India, Brazil, SA, SK, NZ, Sing & Ireland.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2016

Model 3 opened to pre-orders at a booking price of $1,000. Several Indian businessmen, reportedly pr-ordered the car. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of mobile wallet company Paytm, venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy, Vishal Gondal of wearable and fitness technology company GOQii, and Sujayath Ali, CEO of online fashion platform Voonik were among those who tweeted about the booking. Model 3 is priced at $35,000 (INR 3,500,000), a hefty price as per Indian standards. The costs might shoot up if import duties are added to it. The Indian government, hoping to give boost to its ambitious ‘Make in India’ project, had urged Tesla to make India its manufacturing hub. Indian Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari, had also offered the electric company land near major Indian ports to facilitate exports to South and Southeast Asian countries. He visited Tesla factory near San Francisco last year and offered to promote joint ventures between the firm and Indian automobile companies with a view to introducing pollution-free road transport in India, especially commercial and public motor vehicles. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had visited Tesla headquarters in the US, and had a meeting with Musk, where both discussed Tesla’s developments in battery technology, energy storage and renewable energy, and the positive implications of the innovation for India.