The chief ministers of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have sent separate envoys in a bid to woo business magnate Elon Musk and bag a project to set up a manufacturing plant for California-based electric carmaker Tesla Motors.
According to Moneycontrol, Devendra Fadnavis, N Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrashekar Rao are competing to offer lucrative opportunities such as SEZs, port access and other concessions.
Citing Tesla Motors sources, the report also suggests that the company may not be looking to produce and manufacture electric cars as of now. Suggesting a three-pronged approach while citing sources close to the development, CNBC TV18 said that the first step, expected only in 2017, will see Musk's Tesla Motors open a manufacturing plant to oversee the production of Lithium-ion batteries.
The company is expected to follow that up with Phase-2 where it will create a network of supercharging stations. And finally, after a detailed market analysis of India, Tesla Motors may consider setting up manufacturing plants that produce electric cars.
Musk had earlier said that the company may set up a Gigafactory in India to make lithium-ion batteries after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to Tesla Motors' facilities in September 2015
Earlier in June, Union Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari had also visited Tesla Motors' San Francisco factory and invited the company to set up its local facilities in a joint venture with Indian automobile companies.
Gadkari had suggested that Tesla Motors may consider making India its Asian manufacturing hub and offered the company access to major Indian ports to export cars to South and East Asian markets.
According to Hindu Business Line, a 277-hectare SEZ project located inside Jawaharlal Nehru Port may be offered to Tesla Motors.
Tesla Motors is yet to make a formal announcement on the matter.
