EV-focused Maharashtra invites Tesla to invest in state

The Maharashtra government which, like a number of other state governments, is looking to enhance its focus on the electric vehicle (EV) eco-system, has invited Tesla to invest in the state.

The American EV maker, which is currently seeing massive demand for its eco-friendly cars, is learnt to be keen about investing in India. Yesterday, Maharashtra’s Industries Minister Subhash Desai and Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray participated in a video call with a team of officials from Tesla.

In a tweet, Aaditya Thackeray stated: “This evening I had the opportunity to participate in a video call by Industries Minister @Subhash_Desaiji with @Tesla team to invite them to Maharashtra. I was present not because of just the investment but my firm belief in electric mobility & sustainability. We are firmly committed to policy building and changes for sustainable development and I personally believe that electric mobility, supported by renewable energy is the way ahead. Let’s hope we can help this thought become mainstream soon.”

That Maharashtra is serious about its EV programme was amply indicated in an exclusive interview the Industries Minister Subhash Desai had with Autocar Professional in end-July. He said: “We are very keen to set up an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing hub. We are negotiating with many investors and companies. There are companies from Germany and Hungary too. One of the companies is actively negotiating with us for setting up its electric bus manufacturing plant. Our EV policy spells out a very attractive and healthy policy. We have verified this with the investors as well as the Indian domestic manufacturers. They say that there is nothing wrong, it is a perfect policy, and over time people are bound to come here.”

Maharashtra makes things easy for FDI
Maharashtra is going all out to enhance the ease of doing business in the state. Of the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that comes to India, the major part, more than 30 percent, comes to Maharashtra. The state has made considerable policy reforms under the ‘Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0’ programme.

According to Subhash Desai, “Under the ‘plug-and-play’ scheme, new investors can launch their factories here, in plots ready with infrastructure, land, water and power. Our industrial development corporation, MIDC, is now ready to give industrial sheds with MIDC investment, on rentals. Investors can just bring in their machineries and start working. We have kept as much as 40,000 hectares of land ready across the state, at various locations."

"The ‘master licence’, which we call ‘Maha Parwana’ is a big change. As soon as an agreement is finalised with the industries, we will issue them the master licence within 48 hours. They can straightaway start the erection work, or if the shed is ready then they can start their operations. During the production period, the other licences will be made available. It was not there. As many as 18 licences, from different departments, are required to be procured by industries before starting operations. That used to take months, but no more now."

"We have also decided to appoint one relationship manager for every serious investor. He will be responsible and empowered to help them at every stage, so that the investors do not have to run around to resolve any difficulty. This person, from the industry department, will be responsible for complete handholding.”

Over to you Tesla and Elon Musk.

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