NEW DELHI: Will make cars in India? Roads minister says this could well be a possibility but added that the Elon Musk-led electric car maker will only decide on the matter after the launch of the Model 3 next year. Such a move would act as a boost to India’s bid to promote electric vehicles and reduce pollutions levels in its . Gadkari, who recently visited Tesla’s factory near San Francisco in the US, told ET that the car maker wants to see how the Model 3 does before entering the price-sensitive Indian market. The Model 3 is Tesla’s cheapest offering at $35,000 (about Rs 23 lakh) and some 400,000 bookings have been made since it was unveiled in March, some of these from India. “They are positive on setting up a base in India but will only decide on it after their Model 3 car is launched,” Gadkari told ET after his week-long US trip, during which he met Tesla executives and briefed them about the opportunities in the country. Gadkari has pledged the government’s full backing for a local Tesla project. “We have offered them (support) to make India their Asia manufacturing hub,” he said. “We will provide them land near the port of their preference along with all necessary support. Rules on alternate fuel cars have already been clarified by us.” Tesla designs and manufactures premium electric vehicles that it says can run more than 300 kilometres on a single charge. Homegrown Reva’s flagship e2o model runs 90-100 km on a single charge, according to the company, a part of the . “They (Tesla) have path-breaking energy storage ,” Gadkari said. “I told them that India could be one of their largest markets and we would be the most cost effective. I have proposed joint ventures between the electric car manufacturers and Indian automobile companies. We also want Tesla to manufacture commercial vehicles.” India has already made plans to establish the necessary charging network for electric cars, which will first be established in the country’s big cities. Musk has said that an India-wide network would be up and running by the time the Model 3 is launched. While India’s generation capacities have improved over the past few years, electricity availability outside the big cities can be patchy and blackouts are still common in parts of the country. Gadkari’s ministry has allowed the conversion of vehicles into hybrids through retrofitting to check high pollution levels. The ministry will start certifying manufacturers of such kits and a list of authorised installers will be drawn up. The ministry has asked global automotive technology companies Bosch and Cummins to provide retrofitting technology with the cost of such conversions kept at a little less than Rs 1lakh. The ministry recently held a meeting with senior executives of both companies. The government is already in the process of rolling out the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), which aims to get 6 million electric vehicles, including two-wheelers, on the road by 2020. The transport ministry, along with the power, heavy industries and ministries, has formed a committee that is looking into nationwide implementation of these ideas and how to strengthen the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
India’s Roads Minister, Nitin Gadkari, said that Tesla may begin to manufacture electronic vehicles (EV), in the country after the launch of the company’s Model 3 next year. With the Indian government finalising its National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), the introduction of EV manufacturing in the country could, according to officials, greatly help in achieving goals of 6 million EVs on the roads by March.