Tesla in India soon: Elon Musk in talks with Karnataka government to setup R&D centre in country’s tech capital Bengaluru

Elon Musk’s Tesla might finally be making its foray into the Indian market. Tesla held exploratory discussions with the Karnataka government officials earlier this month. The Karnataka government is seeking possible investments from Tesla for a research facility in Bengaluru. The Economic Times first reported this story on Monday.

Tesla cars have not come to India so far. There has been huge speculation that it might introduce its electric car to the Indian market soon. Be that as it may, for there is now the possibility of Tesla setting up a research facility in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka.

The development would bring in one of the biggest electric car makers in the world to Karnataka and would bump up the state’s image with a high-profile and news making investor marking its presence in a city that is already known as a R&D hub for sectors such as aviation, biotechnology, and information technology.

If the talks fructify, India will be the second country outside of the US where Tesla will have a research centre.

Bengaluru already hosts local and global companies such as Daimler, Bosch and Mahindra Electric. It is also home to promising EV startups such as Ola Electric, Sun Mobility and Ather. Karnataka is the first state to come up with an electric vehicle policy, hoping to generate investments of `31,000 crore in EV R&D and manufacturing. India is also aiming to expand its EV market.

According to financial services firm Avendus, India’s EV market is expected to touch Rs 50,000 crore by 2025.

Tesla surpassed Toyota as the most valuable automobile company in the world in July. Tesla sells its cars in several markets including Europe, Japan, US, Singapore, Australia and China.

Karnataka, like its counterparts, is actively seeking out new investments to kickstart the fledgling economy that was set back due to the covid-19 induced lockdown.

Karnataka has even set up a task force just to pursue companies looking to relocate from China after the pandemic.