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Tesla Selects Karnataka for Electric Vehicle Plant in India: PTI

Tesla Selects Karnataka for Electric Vehicle Plant in India: PTI

Tesla Inc. chose the state of Karnataka for its first plant in India as the electric vehicle maker sets its sight on Asia’s third-biggest economy, according to the Press Trust of India.

The southern state’s chief minister B S Yediyurappa announced the plan, PTI reported Saturday.

Last month, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and chief executive officer of Tesla tweeted “as promised” in response to a report on a Tesla-focused blog that the automaker was in talks with several Indian states to open an office, showrooms, a research and development center and possibly a factory in India.

India hasn’t rolled out the welcome mat for electric vehicles, unlike neighbor China, where Tesla set up its first factory outside of the U.S. and now dominates electric car sales. EVs account for about 5% of China’s annual car sales, according to BloombergNEF, compared to less than 1% in India.

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