By Aditya Kalra, Aditi Shah and Shivangi Acharya

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal will meet Tesla chief Elon Musk within the United States subsequent week as the 2 sides look to advance the U.S. carmaker’s plan to enter the South Asian market, sources acquainted with the plans stated.

The assembly between Goyal and Musk would be the most high-profile one because the Tesla boss met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June and later stated he was eager to make important investments within the nation.

Discussions between the Musk and Goyal within the U.S. will centre round Tesla’s plans to setup an Indian manufacturing facility, manufacturing a $24,000 automobile there, sourcing extra elements and establishing charging infrastructure throughout the nation, one of many two sources informed Reuters.

A dialogue can also be probably on a brand new coverage India is engaged on which is able to enable automakers to import totally constructed EVs into India at a diminished tax charge of 15%, down from as a lot as 100% now, in the event that they decide to some native manufacturing.

This assembly is to make sure that talks between India and Tesla “are moving in the right direction,” the particular person added.

India’s commerce ministry and Tesla didn’t reply to requests for remark.

Tesla and India have been in talks for a number of months with the U.S. carmaker open to organising a manufacturing facility but additionally eager to get decrease import taxes for a few of its high-end autos.

Prime Minister Modi’s workplace held a gathering with numerous ministries on Monday to expedite the brand new EV coverage, stated a 3rd supply.

The third particular person added the federal government can also be analysing the affect the brand new coverage might have on the Indian EV market, as native carmakers have usually stated decrease EV import taxes might disrupt the market and harm their plans.

Tesla first tried to enter India in 2021, pushing officers to decrease the 100% import tax for EVs, however final 12 months the talks collapsed when officers conveyed the corporate must first decide to native manufacturing.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Aditi Shah and Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)