Tesla registers India office in Bangalore, to start operations with R&D unit

In a RoC (Registration of Company) document accessed by Autocar Professional, Tesla has registered its office in Bangalore, with a capital amount of Rs 1.5 crore.

By Nilesh Wadhwa

12 Jan 2021

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Tesla, currently the most valuable carmaker in the world, reported record production of 179,757 cars and deliveries of 180,570 units in Q4 (October-December 2020) That is nearly twice is Q2 production (82,272) and sales (90,650).

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's tweet on January 12 confirming the Tesla plan for an R&D unit. He later deleted the tweet.

For the full calendar year 2020, Tesla produced 509,737 cars and managed to deliver a record 499,550 units – missing its targeted 500,000 units by a whisker – just 450 units.

American electric vehicle maker Tesla, which has been instrumental is taking EVs mainstream, has made its first move in the Indian market.

In an RoC (Registration of Company) document accessed by Autocar Professional, Tesla has registered its office in Bangalore. The company, registered as Tesla Motors India & Energy Pvt Ltd, has named three directors as part of its team in the country, Vaibhav Taneja, Venkatrangam Sreeram and David Jon Feinstein.

The company is registered with a authorised capital of Rs 15 lakh and paid-up capital of Rs 100,000. This announcement officially marks Tesla’s India entry in the state of Karnataka. It would be interesting to see if the company would set-up its manufacturing base in Karnataka, or will continue to keep up the suspense and be wooed away by some other state.

What has started as a long wait for the Indian consumers who first eyed and booked a Tesla in 2016 are expected to get their deliveries starting this year. As reported earlier, the Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had confirmed that Tesla will begin deliveries in 2021.

Welcoming the announcement, the chief minister of Karnataka, B S Yediyurappa tweeted. He later deleted the tweet.

Karnataka will lead India's journey towards Green Mobility. Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Tesla will soon start its operations in India with an R&D unit in Bengaluru. I welcome @elonmusk to India & Karnataka and wish him all the very best.@PMOIndia @nitin_gadkari @Tesla
— B.S. Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) January 12, 2021

Tesla's first concrete move for an India innings comes a little over five years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tesla Motors' plant in San Jose where he met Elon Musk. Around 10 months later, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways & Shipping, also visited the Telsa manufacturing plant where the EV maker was urged to make India a manufacturing hub.

Big boost for Karnataka's e-mobility drive
Tesla’s decision to set up an office in Bangalore comes as a shot in the arm for the state of Karnataka, which is already home to Mahindra Electric and Ather Energy, two of the EV industry’s dynamic manufacturers. As is known, a number of states in India have unveiled EV-friendly policies including Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Chandigarh and Kerala.

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India-bound Tesla delivers record 180,570 cars in Q4, misses 2020 target of 500,000 by just 450 units