KT Rama Rao offers Elon Musk to set up Tesla factory in Telangana

KT Rama Rao acting president of TRS took the liberty of inviting Tesla CEO Elon Musk to set up shop in Telangana.

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Right after Elon Musk's tweet about facing "a lot of challenges" with the government to bring Tesla into India, TRS President KT Rama Rao took the liberty of inviting Tesla's CEO Elon Musk to set up shop in Telangana. This offer seems straightforward considering the stand-off between Tesla and the central government about setting up a local factory.

Rao invited Musk through a Tweet, saying, "Hey Elon, I am the Industry and Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India. Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana." To add to this, he also said that Telangana as a state promotes sustainable development, "Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives and a top-notch business destination in India."

Musk on Thursday informed that the EV-maker is facing a "lot of challenges" for its car launch in India. The challenges Musk is referring to are related to tax cuts. The electric car makers want the government to lower the tax to sell vehicles in India. However, the Indian government wants Tesla to bring their cars in CKD(completely knocked down) condition in India and assemble them locally.

With a $39,990 global price tag, Tesla Model 3 may remain an affordable model in the US. Still, with import duties, it would become unaffordable in the Indian market with an expected price tag of around Rs 60 lakh. Currently, India levies 100 per cent tax on imported cars of price more than $40,000 (Rs 30 lakh) inclusive of insurance and shipping expenses, and vehicles less than $40,000 are subject to 60 per cent import tax.

With inputs from IANS