After Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh is in contention for Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing units that Elon Musk’s Tesla plans to set up in India. But it’s the story of Gujarat’s potential partnership with Tesla that will be followed with keen interest given that in the last 20 years, the state has become a major hub for India’s automotive industry.
Gujarat’s confidence to bag mega automobile projects comes from a storied past.
Many car manufacturers, component makers, and tire companies have invested in Gujarat. The state’s giant leap in this sector could be traced to 2010 when Tata Motors opened a car manufacturing plant in Sanand. CEAT also built a tire plant in Halol. Auto giants such as Ford, Suzuki, Honda, Hero MotoCorp, MG Motor, and JCB have established plants in Gujarat. Now, with a focus on electric vehicles, Gujarat aims to play a key role in the EV sector. The state also has plans for semiconductor and battery cell production under the Production-Linked Incentive scheme.
Meanwhile, according to a report, Andhra Pradesh is luring Tesla with ready land parcels. The report adds that Tesla could first import pre-made vehicles before establishing a production plant in Andhra.
The state has reminded that South India prides itself on the most EV four-wheeler sales in India. Data indicates that approximately 60% of EV car sales are in four southern states of Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
It may be recalled that in 2017, in a memorandum of understanding, Naidu and Tesla agreed that Musk would provide technical assistance for the construction of two 4 MW solar energy storage units in Rayalaseema.
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