Tesla has begun holding discussions with the Indian government to build a car manufacturing plant in the country, according to The Times of India.
The factory will reportedly be able to produce 500,000 electric vehicles annually that have a starting price of Rs 20 lakh (about $24,360).
“Tesla has come to us with an ambitious plan, and we are confident that the movement will be positive this time around, especially as it involves both local manufacturing and exports,” a source said.
Tesla is also reportedly interested in using India as an export base to ship its cars to other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
The reported discussions come not long after Tesla CEO Elon Musk held meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the U.S. At the time of the meetings, Musk said he was a fan of Modi, adding the Prime Minister had been encouraging Tesla to invest in India.
Before the reported discussions began between the Indian government and Tesla, Foxconn — a Taiwanese multinational company and one of Apple’s lead suppliers — reportedly pulled out of a $19.5 billion joint venture project with the Indian organization Vedanta that would have brought display and semiconductor manufacturing capabilities to the state of Gujarat. Foxconn told CNBC that while the decision it came to was a mutual agreement, it still believes in India’s semiconductor aspirations.
