According to Indian media outlet The Wire, U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly prevented Elon Musk’s Tesla from establishing a manufacturing plant in India.
India’s Minister for Heavy Industries, H. D. Kumaraswamy, stated in a press conference that Tesla has shown no interest in setting up local production in India. He also unveiled a new policy aimed at incentivizing companies to locally manufacture electric vehicles (EVs) by significantly reducing import duties—from up to 100% to 15%—on EVs priced above $35,000, provided the companies invest $500 million and establish a plant in India.
While companies like Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai, and Kia have expressed interest, Tesla and Vietnam-based VinFast have not. Kumaraswamy revealed Tesla is only planning to open two showrooms in Delhi and Mumbai, not manufacturing facilities.
This comes despite earlier expectations that Elon Musk would visit India and announce a $3 billion investment following talks with PM Narendra Modi. However, Musk postponed his visit citing Tesla commitments and made a surprise trip to China instead, where progress was made on self-driving technology approvals.
Musk has long opposed India’s high import duties on vehicles. The current policy was initially seen as a win for Tesla due to its lobbying efforts, but the company has so far refrained from deeper involvement beyond potential showroom launches.