Sour grapes? China thinks Tesla's India biz will be doomed
China has not liked Tesla CEO Elon Musk planning to open an electric car factory in India. Musk is set to travel to India later this month and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with plans for a Tesla factory expected to be announced.
Musk has negotiated with the Indian government for long. He preferred to import cars into India at a lower duty while India wanted him to manufacture cars locally. He is likely to announce Tesla's India entry after the government announced its new EV policy last month which is likely to suit him. The government will allow the import of completely built-up electric cars that have a minimum cost, insurance and freight value of $35,000 (Rs. 29.2 lakh) at 15% import duty five years in exchange for a minimum investment of $500 million to start local manufacturing. India levies import duty of up to 100% on completely built-up cars.
Read| Musk coming to India this month, may announce Tesla's India plan during meeting with PM Modi
But China is not liking Tesla's likely India entry. The Global Times, considered a mouthpiece of the Chinese government, has put a hex on India's ambitious step to invite Tesla by predicting it is not going to work because it's too soon for a grossly underprepared and immature Indian market. The doomy commentary ignores that several big Chinese EV makers have earlier shown interest in manufacturing EVs in India but the Indian government did not allow them. India-China ties have deteriorated due to border disputes over which skirmishes had erupted earlier. India
