Tesla will reportedly be opening its initial stores in India in two of the country’s metro centers, coming after years of talks with the U.S. company about bringing its business to the world’s third-largest auto market.
Following a meeting between CEO Elon Musk and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, plans for bringing the company’s electric vehicles (EVs) to the country appear to be back on with a number of job listings going live. On Tuesday, a report from Reuters citing sources familiar with the matter said that Tesla has already selected locations for stores in New Delhi and Mumbai, after the automaker started searching for retail space late last year.
The report says that Tesla has chosen the Aerocity area close to the New Delhi International Airport, according to two of the sources who were familiar with the discussions. Along with being close to the airport, the nearby area also has a number of hotels, corporate offices and other retail outlets.
In Mumbai, Tesla is opening a store in the Bandra Kurla Complex shopping area, which is also near the city’s airport, according to another source. Both the Tesla stores in New Delhi and Mumbai are expected to be around 465 square meters (~5,000 square feet), while neither of the locations will include service centers, the source said.
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The news follows a number of job listings the company posted in India this week, primarily in Mumbai. It also follows years of discussion between Musk and Modi, with high import tariffs of as much as 100 percent preventing Tesla from launching its auto business in the country.
Previous reports had said that Tesla would be looking at launching in either Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, or Gujarat for a potential manufacturing facility, though the automaker hasn’t confirmed whether or not it’s still considering these plans. Tesla has been in talks with officials in India about launching its auto business and a potential plant in the country since at least 2019, though these plans have repeatedly been put on hold.
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