Four years ago, Elon Musk kicked off a vociferous debate in India’s auto industry when he said he wanted to come to India with the Tesla, but the stumbling block was the steep import duties, the highest in the world, which needed to go down substantially as a precondition to Tesla’s entry.

 

Domestic players such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra opposed any move to reduce duties on fully-built cars. Tesla, though, had the support of other global players with manufacturing facilities in India: Hyundai, Volkswagen, BMW, and others who, too, pushed for lower duties so that they could

First Published: Mar 21 2024 | 12:57 AM IST