India’s transport minister Nitin Gadkari has proposed supporting joint ventures between Tesla and Indian car companies at a meeting with Tesla senior executives.
In discussions at Tesla’s factory near San Francisco, Gadkari also called on the electric vehicle and energy storage specialist Tesla to set up an Asian manufacturing hub within India and even offered land near major Indian ports to facilitate export of vehicles to South and Southeast Asian countries.
In perhaps one of the most visible attempts to bolster prime minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, which seeks to establish India as major global manufacturing centre, Gadkari explained to Tesla executives that India wants to bring in pollution-free road transport, particularly in commercial and public motor vehicles.