Tesla’s launch of electric cars in India may be delayed over local supply issues

Tesla CEO Elon Musk indicated in a tweet that the support to meet India’s 30% local sourcing norm doesn’t yet exist in India.

Atom Electric Vehicles

Lack of component suppliers in India is delaying the entry of electric cars in the country, Tesla's founder and CEO Elon Musk said on Monday.

In February 2017, Musk had tweeted that he was hoping for Tesla to launch its vehicle in summer.

However, on Monday he dashed the hopes of seeing the company launching the model in India either in 2017 or 2018.

Replying to a tweet that asked about the chances of Tesla launching its model in India in 2017 or 2018, Musk said: "Maybe I'm misinformed, but I was told that 30% of parts must be locally sourced and the supply doesn't yet exist in India to support that."

Tesla was expected to enter the Indian market with the Model 3, the company’s most affordable car at $35,000.

The models rolled out by Tesla are electric powered and long distance runners. Musk had earlier talks about setting up a pan-India supercharger network

Woth $74 billion automotive industry, India is the fastest growing market for passenger cars, the market for electric vehicles is yet to grow. Currently there are only two models in India launched by Mahindra – Mahindra e2O and Verito.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Tesla headquarters at Palo Alto, California, in the United States, in 2015 and met Musk.

A number of Indians had already pre-booked the car in anticipation of its launch, however it’s not clear how and when Tesla will be servicing these customers.

India has set a target of moving to 100% electric mobility by 2030, however, there has not been much of an improvement in infrastructure yet with charging facilities also lacking. Additionally, an inadequate infrastructure for electric vehicles makes it hard for global tech players like Tesla to meet the 30% local sourcing norms in India.

With inputs from IANS

Image: Jeff Cooper