New Delhi: Green carmaker Tesla Motorsmight play its cards on India but 'challenging government regulations' is holding back the American multinational corporation, its chief Elon has hinted.
Replying on a tweet by a user who said "No Tesla in India", Musk said, “Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately."
He went on to say, "Deepak Ahuja, our CFO, is from India. Tesla will be there as soon as he believes we should."
As per Musk's tweet, it is evident Ahuja will be the man behind Tesla's entry into the Indian market.
An IIT, Varanasi (formerly Benaras Hindu University) graduate, Ahuja first joined Tesla and served till 2015. He made a comeback in March last year.
Musk had last year raised concerns over the 30% local sourcing norms and supply problems over a tweet.
The Indian government, however, responded to Musks's tweet saying that the country's FDI policy does not mandate 30% sourcing of components by manufactures.
As per the policy, after manufacturing in India, a foreign investor is permitted to sell its products through mediums such as wholesale, retail and e-commerce.
In April 2016, Tesla had started taking bookings from Indian customers for its Model 3 sedan which was unveiled globally at a starting price of $35,000.
The booking amount, which was worth $1,000, saw the Indian corporates like Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma and venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy signing up.
The Government of India is pushing to have over 30% electric vehicles to curb pollution and lower dependence on fossil fuels and crude oil import bill.
