Tesla looks set to enter India following a series of government policy shifts aimed at lowering import duties on electric vehicles, a move that could disrupt the country’s fledgling EV market and challenge home-grown carmakers.
Industry chatter about the imminent entry of Tesla has grown louder after the company posted recruitment advertisements this month on LinkedIn for positions in Mumbai and New Delhi for roles in customer service, vehicle maintenance, sales, business operations and marketing.
The company is reportedly scouting for land in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh as well as other provinces, prompting users on social media platform X to ask whether Indian car companies such as Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors will be able to withstand competition from Tesla.
“We have been asked similar questions ever since the opening up of the Indian economy in 1991,” Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, said on X on February 18, in response to a query by a social media user about whether the firm was ready to face competition from Tesla.
“But we’re still around. And working like maniacs to still be around and relevant even a century from now,” he said. “With you cheering us on, we will make that happen.”
India’s federal budget in early February cut the tariff rate on luxury cars priced above US$40,000 to 70 per cent from 125 per cent, days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to the United States where the country’s high tariff levels were one of the focal points of talks with US President Donald Trump.
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