India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met senior Tesla executives the previous week in a closed door meeting, to talk about its plans to set up a manufacturing plant in the country, Reuters reported citing two sources.
Tesla has evinced interest in establishing a factory in India that will produce a low-cost electric vehicle at US$ 24,000, around 25% cheaper than Tesla's current entry model, for both the Indian market and export, the newswire reported.
Tesla's senior public policy and business development executive Rohan Patel, and a vice president for supply chain, Roshan Thomas, also met officials from the Invest India agency during their time in the country.
Their meeting with Goyal, however, was the most high-profile one since Tesla CEO Elon Musk met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June in New York.
Tesla and India's commerce ministry did not respond to requests for comment. The sources declined to be named given the sensitivity of the discussions, the newswire reported.