Minister of Commerce for India will meet with Musk on market entrance

 Minister of Commerce for India will meet with Musk on market entrance

This will be the most public encounter between Goyal and Musk since the Tesla CEO visited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June and subsequently expressed his desire to make large investments in the nation.

According to people familiar with the preparations, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will meet in the US next week with the aim of advancing the US automaker's goal to join the South Asian market.

This will be the most public encounter between Goyal and Musk since the Tesla CEO visited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June and subsequently expressed his desire to make large investments in the nation.

According to one of the two people who spoke to Reuters, the main topic of discussion between Musk and Goyal in the US would be Tesla's intentions to build an Indian plant, produce a $24,000 vehicle there, source more parts, and build up a nationwide network of charging stations.

A discussion of a new policy that India is developing is also probably in order. If automakers commit to some local production, the policy would enable them to import fully manufactured electric vehicles (EVs) into India at a lower tax rate of 15%, as opposed to the current 100%.

The purpose of this meeting is to make sure that the negotiations between Tesla and India "are moving in the right direction," the source said.

Requests for response were not answered by Tesla or the Indian Ministry of Commerce.

For a number of months, Tesla and India have been in discussions, with the American automaker willing to establish a facility but also eager to get reduced import duties for a select few of its premium cars.

According to a third source, Prime Minister Modi's staff met with several departments on Monday to discuss accelerating the new EV policy.

The government is also analyzing the potential effects of the new policy on the Indian EV industry, the third source said, as local automakers have often expressed concern that reduced EV import duties may affect their business plans and disrupt the market.

In an attempt to cut the 100% import tax on electric vehicles (EVs), Tesla originally attempted to join India in 2021. However, negotiations broke down last year when authorities made it clear that the business would need to first commit to local manufacture.