Tesla's U-turn on India in search for new EV manufacturing destination

With plans to import and sell cars off the table, Elon Musk's flagship is exploring the challenging prospect of an assembly plant for a cheaper electric vehicle

A senior Tesla delegation, mostly from its supply chain function, met officials at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Commerce Ministry in New Delhi and, it is believed, executives of a Mumbai EV manufacturer over a two-day visit last fortnight.

Tesla’s tryst with India has been on and off for over two years. In May last year, the Elon Musk-founded company decided -- following rounds of talks, letter exchanges with the government, and a plethora of tweets from Musk – to shelve its India plans after it failed to convince the government to reduce high import duties so that it