How one tweet from Elon Musk triggered five states to try to woo Tesla

Even as the Narendra Modi government is persuading Tesla to 'Make in India' instead of exporting its futuristic cars, several states have begun clamoring for Elon Musk's attention and thereby a heavy investment.

West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu took the lead in the race but first among the lot is Telangana, with its industries and commerce minister K T Rama Rao even offering to “to partner with Tesla in working through the challenges to set up shop in India/Telangana.”

Reacting to one tweet asking when Tesla would enter the Indian market, Tesla founder Musk had on 13 January tweeted - “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government."

While the Texas-based company has been intending to sell its “eco-friendly” cars in India for some time now, the high import duties India levies on fully assembled cars is stated as a deterrent.

The duty on completely built EVs costing $40,000 or less is 60 per cent while it would shoot up to 100 per cent for anything costlier. Tesla understandably thinks the premium price could dissuade the cost-conscious Indian consumer.

And given the fledgling state the electric vehicle environment is in the country, Tesla, analysts believe, would opt to test the market first with exported cars coming with an attractive rate tag.

Tesla's top executives reportedly approached the PMO a few months back, seeking a meeting of Musk with Modi to resolve the matter.

In the case of agreeing to lowering taxes, the government could seek a commitment from Tesla to manufacture its EVs locally later.

The race to woo Tesla began in this context.

In his tweet on 14 January inviting Musk to Telangana, KTR, as the minister is popularly known, further said, “our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India.”

As KTR was stealing the show on social media, West Bengal's minority affairs minister Md Ghulam Rabbani joined the race a day later, with a tweet asking Tesla to “drop here, we in West Bengal have the best infrastructure & our leader Mamata Banerjee has got the vision. Bengal means business.”

On 16 January, Maharashtra's water resources minister Jayant Patil made the same pitch, inviting Tesla to open a manufacturing plant in the state while promising to “provide all the necessary help to get established in India.”

Later the same day, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu also tweeted in response to the then three day old Musk tweet, stating that Ludhiana will be made an EV & battery industry hub, “with time bound single window clearance for investment ...”

Tamil Nadu's industries minister Thangam Thenarasu tweeted on Monday evening introducing himself to Musk like KTR. “Tamil Nadu accounts for 34 % share in total planned investments for Electric Vehicles. Welcome to India's EV capital ...”

While some state governments have been courting Tesla behind the curtains, the rivalry is now out in the open.

While all the fresh appeals are from non-BJP ruled states, Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab politicians seem so enamored by Tesla that they did not wait for their industries ministers to do the sales pitch.

Setting up a car manufacturing plant requires a vast expanse of land, the domain of the states.

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