Maruti Suzuki India’s Chairman R C Bhargava mentioned there are sufficient ‘safeguards’ in place for India’s home EV makers that minimises any influence for them from international entities like Tesla. 

The Centre on Friday mentioned it should decrease import taxes on sure electrical autos for firms committing to a minimum of $500 million in funding and manufacturing amenities inside three years, probably bolstering Tesla’s plans to enter the market.

“New EV coverage is designed to herald new know-how to India. As a result of the coverage is for top price vehicles and the higher finish of the market, I don’t count on any influence on home producers,” Bhargava advised CNBC-TV18 and Enterprise Commonplace in two separate interactions. 

“A unfavourable influence or harm, if any, can be minimal,” he mentioned. 

The coverage is seen as a giant win for Tesla because it’s consistent with what the corporate had been lobbying for in New Delhi. Sources mentioned final July that the carmaker had provided to construct a manufacturing unit however, within the meantime, needed a minimize in import taxes that CEO Elon Musk mentioned have been among the many highest on the earth.

For years, Musk has tried to enter the Indian market however New Delhi wasn’t eager until he dedicated to native manufacturing. Tesla officers visited India a number of instances in latest months, with Musk additionally assembly Prime Minister Narendra Modi final yr.

Corporations that meet the funding and manufacturing necessities can be allowed to import a restricted variety of EVs at a decrease tax of 15% on vehicles costing $35,000 and above. India at the moment levies a tax of 70% or 100% on imported vehicles and EVs relying on their worth.

Tesla’s least expensive car, the Mannequin 3, begins at $38,990 in New York, in keeping with the carmaker’s web site.