Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal’s Tweet comes at a time when the EV manufacturer scouts sites for installing production facilities
Tweeting in response to Elon Musk’s latest comment, Ola Electric founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has told the Tesla owner: “Thanks, but no thanks.”
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Elon Musk had earlier said that the USA-based electric car manufacturer will not start producing cars in India until it was allowed to first start selling and servicing in the country. “Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed first to sell & service cars,” Musk tweeted. Tesla’s entry into Indian car market has been in doldrums since 2019 as the Modi government has refused to accept Musk’s demand for a reduction in steep import duties. It must be noted here that India levies a 60 per cent import duty on EVs costing USD 40,000 or lower, and 100 per cent duty on EVs that are priced at over USD 40,000.
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Bhavish Aggarwal is currently on a lookout for sites to set up production facilities to manufacture battery cells and electric cars. It’s reported that Ola Electric would require 1,000 acres of land for setting up the facilities with an investment in tune of Rs 10,000 crore. Currently, the firm has a FutureFactory located on 500 acres at Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu. It is the world’s largest two-wheeler factory. Bhavish Aggarwal has said that the first electric car from Ola will be introduced in next 2-3 years. The EV will be manufactured at the company’s new plant and not the current Futurefactory that produces electric two-wheelers.
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The Government of India is laying strong focus on faster adoption of EVs and has even come up with various incentives to attract EV manufacturers as well as vehicle buyers. One of the highlights of these incentives includes the Rs 10,000 crore FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of [Hybrid and] Electric Vehicles in India) scheme. It has also earmarked Rs 18,000 crore for production-linked incentives. Also, it must be noted here that Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, has urged Tesla to not import vehicles from China. For the EV firm to start operations in India, it would get the benefits only if it manufacturers vehicles locally.
