‘Challenging regulations’ delaying Tesla’s India foray

CEO Musk had cited norm on local sourcing of components

FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder Elon Musk pauses at a press conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

Electric car maker Tesla’s India entry is getting delayed due to “challenging government regulations,” said Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla.

“Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately. Deepak Ahuja, our CFO, is from India. Tesla will be there as soon as he believes we should,” he tweeted.

Supply issue

Last year, Mr. Musk had tweeted seeking “temporary relief” on import duties from the Centre till the company built a factory in India. This followed an earlier tweet wherein he had expressed hope of an India foray sometime in the summer of 2017. He had tweeted, “maybe I’m misinformed, but I was told that 30% of parts must be locally sourced and the supply doesn’t yet exist in India to support that.” The Commerce and Industry Ministry said it was not correct to say that the FDI policy mandated any firm to conform to minimum sourcing of local components if it wanted to establish a unit in India.