Days after Tesla founder Elon Musk said the US electric-vehicle pioneer was still facing many challenges with the Indian government, politicians from four states have lined up to invite the billionaire founder to their home state.
The offers have come from Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and West Bengal. The tweets contain the pitches that touted everything from infrastructure, sustainability and a streamlined approval process.
KT Rama Rao, Telangana’s IT and industries minister, would be a perfect candidate for an award in India for being agile and hyper-alert to development, investment, and job creation opportunities.
His tweet threw a hustling bait at the world’s richest entrepreneur, maverick visionary of intra-planetary scope, and undoubtedly the globe’s most disruptive tech entrepreneur – Elon Musk.
Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, Inc., along with his love for building Hyperloops, Neuralink, and OpenAI, is worth around the US $304 billion. He is famous for being self-taught.
In response to a tweet by Pune-based engineer Pranay Pathole @PPathole asking when Tesla would enter the Indian market, Elon expressed reluctance. The next day, Elon Musk replied, tagging PPathole and Tesla – “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government.”
For which Rama Rao tweeted to Elon Musk – “Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of the Telangana state in India. I am delighted to partner with Tesla in tackling the challenges of setting up shop in India/Telangana”.
In his elucidation of Telangana’s achievements, Rama Rao wrote, “Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives as well as an outstanding business destination in India.”
This moonshot hustle puts Rama Rao at par with two great past efforts – and then-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu pitching Hyderabad to Bill Gates for a development centre outside the US After the project ran into trouble in West Bengal, then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi invited Ratan Tata to set up a Tata Motors plant to manufacture the Nano.
In just a few days after Telangana’s industry and commerce minister KT Rama Rao went to Elon Musk about setting up a manufacturing facility, Maharashtra’s water resources minister Jayant Patil approached him about the merits of setting up a manufacturing facility in the state.
As a response to a tweet from Musk saying that his company was experiencing difficulties launching operations in India, he said that Maharashtra is one of the most progressive states in India.
The Maharashtra government will provide all the support necessary for your establishment in India. We invite you to establish your manufacturing facility in Maharashtra,” Patil said.
“Drop here, we in West Bengal have best infra & our leader @MamataOfficial has got the vision. Bengal means Business,” Ghulam Rabbani, West Bengal’s minister for minority affairs and Madrassah education, tweeted to Musk on Saturday.
I invite @elonmusk, Punjab Model will create Ludhiana as hub for Electric Vehicles & Battery industry with time bound single window clearance for investment that brings new technology to Punjab, create green jobs, walking path of environment preservation & sustainable development
Tesla has first sought a cut in import duties before its local launch. The company said India has the highest import duties among large countries, and it will consider setting up a plant locally only when it is successful with imported models.
Given their pricing, Tesla’s vehicles are subject to a higher duty since India charges 60% duty on vehicles with a net CIF (cost, insurance, freight) value of up to $40,000 and 100% duty on vehicles costing more. Tesla has requested a 40% duty rate. The collection of import duties falls under the purview of the federal government.
