Firms that want to import vehicles into India should invest here: Ola CEO

Anyone who wants to import vehicles into India should invest in the country, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said on Sunday in response Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s demand to reduce customs duty on imported electric cars.

Speaking to reporters here at the pre-launch event of the company’s electric scooter, he said the industry has to create sustainability revolution in the country and also grow technology and manufacturing ecosystems.

“I welcome that gentleman to India… You know competition is good, in the end, the industry has to create sustainability revolution in the country,” Aggarwal said when asked about Tesla’s demand to reduce import duty on its electric vehicles (EVs) for it to set up operations here on India.

He further said it is not only about sustainability; it is about growing the Indian technology ecosystem, growing the manufacturing ecosystem.

“And, companies, whether Indian or international, should invest in India and that is my comment to anybody who wants to import into India. They should invest in India and India is the best place to invest,” he added

Last month, Musk had said that American EV maker Tesla may set up manufacturing unit in India if it first succeeds with imported vehicles in the country.

Musk had said Tesla wanted to launch its vehicles in India “but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country!”

Currently, India imposes 100 per cent import duty on fully imported cars with CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value more than USD 40,000 and 60 per cent on those costing less than the amount.

On increasing competition in the Indian EVs space where many electric two-wheeler makers have frayed, Aggarwal said, “We welcome competition, we will beat competition whether it’s Indian or global; but, for growing the ecosystem, companies should invest in India.”

Ola Electric on Sunday made a foray into the green mobility segment with the launch of its electric scooter S1 with price starting at Rs 99,999.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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