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Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil has a great offer for Tesla CEO, Elon Musk

A minister in Maharashtra on Sunday came up with an offer for Tesla CEO Elon Musk to start business in the west Indian state, a day after his counterpart in Telangana made a similar proposal.

The offers came close on the heels of the maverick billionaire American entrepreneur sharing a tweet about the challenges his electric car-making company was facing while dealing with the Indian government.

Tagging the now viral tweet of Musk, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil wrote, “Maharashtra is one of the most progressive states in India. We will provide you all the necessary help from Maharashtra for you to get established in India. We invite you to establish your manufacturing plant in Maharashtra.”

The senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader was only two days late in making a similar offer that came from Telangana’s urban development minister KT Rama Rao,who is also the son of chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.

“Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India. Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana. Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India,” the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader wrote.

On January 13, Musk, while replying to a Twitter user regarding Tesla’s business plans in India, said, “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government.”

Musk had said in 2020 that Tesla would set up manufacturing units for electric vehicles in India. A Tesla subsidiary firm named India Motors and Energy Private Limited has been set up. The company is based out of Bengaluru.

Government sources have said that while Tesla was free to use the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) window to produce electric vehicles in India, Musk wanted to slash import duties without offering any commitment to produce in India.

By line: Divya Thearia

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