Elon Musk will not manufacture Tesla cars in India because the government bans the sale and maintenance of electric vehicles

Tesla CEO Elon Musk He said the company would not manufacture cars in India if the state did not allow it to sell and service its electric cars.

When asked by a Twitter user on Friday if Tesla would make a factory in India in the future, Musk said the move could not happen under the country’s current rules.

“Tesla will not put a factory anywhere where we are not allowed to sell and service cars first,” Musk wrote in a tweet.

The team Musk hired in India last year were instructed to focus on the East East and Asia Pacific’s largest market.

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Musk’s comments come at a time when the Indian government has not yet accepted his demand Reducing import duties on Tesla cars.

Indian leaders made numerous unsuccessful appeals to Musk to bring Tesla to India.

“We asked him to come to India and manufacture here. We don’t have problems. Vendors are there, we provide all kinds of technology and because of that, Mask can reduce the cost,” said Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. during the Raisina Dialogue 2022 conference last month, according to TribuneIndia.com.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Armin Laschet, Federal President of the CDU and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, speak during a tour of the future foundry plant of the Tesla Gigafactory on August 13, 2021 in Grünheide near Berlin, Germany. ((Photo by Patrick Ball-Paul/Getty Images)/Getty Images)

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He added, “India is a huge market and provides good opportunities for export as well. Musk can export Tesla cars from India.”

Gadkari said in February that musk should first be made in India before Tesla cars can be driven on the roads.

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A Tesla car passes through the Tesla plant in Fremont, California. (Reuters/Reuters Photo)

Musk had tweeted in January that he could not release Tesla cars in India yet due to “challenges with the government”. Last summer, the billionaire posted on Twitter that he would like to launch Teslas in India, but the country’s import duties are “the highest in the world by far of any large country”.

India currently levies a 100% tax on imported cars that cost more than $40,000, including insurance and freight. Cars costing less than $40,000 face a 60% import tax.

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Musk also said on Twitter on Friday that SpaceX is awaiting approval from the Indian government To provide the South Asian country with Starlink satellite internet.