No blank cheque for Tesla: While the iconic brand’s entry into India is welcome, the govt should follow the model it adopted for Apple

The government and Tesla seem to be close to reaching a pact whereby the marquee brand will eventually set up a manufacturing base in the country to produce a range of its electric vehicles. Going by the progress of the talks between the two sides, which started in May when Elon Musk dropped the earlier demand for first lowering import duty on completely built units—at 100% for cars costing $40,000 and above—any final agreement would certainly give the impression that India has emerged as an alternative to China.