Electric carmaker Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk confirmed his India operations’ plan on Twitter with a short message, “As promised”, just days after the company registered its first entity the country in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Musk tweeted this in reply to an article link about the company being in talks with five Indian states for its outlets and other offices.
On January 8, Tesla registered under the name Tesla India Motors and Energy in Bengaluru, according to local media reports quoting documents submitted to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). Karnataka’s chief minister also confirmed via Twitter that Tesla is setting up an R&D unit in Bengaluru.
The company has currently appointed three directors for its India operations — David Jon Feinstein, Vaibhav Taneja and Venkatrangam Sreeram.
Meanwhile, Tata Motors has denied entering a partnership with Tesla in India, after an unverified Twitter account implied that the Indian carmaker has tied-up with Musk’s company.
The first model to be launched in India will be Tesla’s cheapest vehicle – Model 3, with prices starting at $74,739 (Rs5.5mn), as per media reports. The bookings for the same are likely to begin this month.