India has asked Tesla Inc. to ramp up local procurement and share detailed manufacturing plans before the carmaker’s demands for lower taxes on electric vehicles are considered, a person with the knowledge of the matter said.
The ministries of heavy industries and finance sought the details from Tesla in a meeting earlier this month even as the government examines billionaire Elon Musk’s demand for lower taxes on EVs in Asia’s third-largest economy, the person said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.
The departments have also asked Tesla for its thoughts on importing fully built cars versus so-called knocked-down units or partially built vehicles, which attract a lower import levy, the person said.
Tesla didn’t respond to requests for comment. Representatives from India’s Ministry of Heavy Industries and the nation’s Ministry of Finance couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
California-based Tesla wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in July asking for the import duty on electric cars to be reduced to 40 percent from the current 60 percent to 100 percent. The company also asked for the 10 percent social welfare surcharge — which is levied on all imported cars and helps fund health and education programs — to be scrapped.