Elon Musk, chief of Tesla, tweet to announce a new algorithm of the company’s autonomous driving feature helped get information that will help his company's India business strategy.
Responding to the first tweet on Sunday, a Musk 'follower' asked about the company’s possible foray into the Indian electric car space. “Maybe I'm misinformed, but I was told that 30 percent of parts must be locally sourced and the supply doesn't yet exist in India to support that,” was Musk’s reply.
The government of India’s ‘Make In India’ Twitter handle quickly clarified and made a pitch inviting the company to manufacture in India – “No sourcing conditions are mandated when it comes to manufacturers, as goods are manufactured in India.” The handle also pointed out that the country’s FDI policy doesn’t mandate any minimum sourcing norms for manufacturers.
In July 2016, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, visited Tesla’s plant in the United States, offering to promote joint ventures between the company and Indian automobile OEMs. The Government’s goals is to introducing pollution-free road transport in India.
The company has stated that India will definitely be a market for its low-cost, the Model 3, which has seen record bookings of over 4,00,000 units, including some from India.
With global demand for EVs soaring, the American EV technology major would be just what the doctor ordered for the Indian market, assuming the cars are reasonably priced and infrastructure for EVs is built on time.