Krishnagiri (Tamil Nadu), April 24 : Bhavish Aggarwal will not invite Elon Musk to his state-of-the-art, electric two-wheeler manufacturing facility here as the Ola Founder and CEO feels that when India becomes a global hub for electrification, Tesla CEO will have no choice but to come to the country.
Aggarwal said that not one company has the right or the entitlement to own the future of humanity, which is electric mobility.
“Why should I invite Musk? It is he who should invite us as we have to take pride in our work,” Aggarwal told IANS.
“On one company can bring true mobility to the world. Neither Tesla, nor Ola. Our focus is on empowering our communities and building electrification for India and for the world, and genuinely creating the future industry right here,” he emphasised.
Aggarwal, who revealed that Ola Electric has started testing an autonomous vehicle which it will launch in the global market by late 2023 or early 2024, said that the goal is to really make India a global hub for electrification.
“Once we achieve that, Musk will come on his own,” he told IANS.
Despite tall promises and a lot of dilly-dallying, Tesla is yet to arrive in India amid “challenges with the government”, especially around high customs duties and a key demand to manufacture its cars in the country.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently said that manufacturing Tesla in China and selling in India is not a digestible concept to “all of us”, as Musk continues to seek tax rebates to sell his electric car in the country.
“If you start here, you are welcome, no problem. But manufacturing in China and selling in India is not a digestible concept to all of us,” he had said.
Gadkari said that the country cannot appease one automobile company.
“India is a huge market. We have all the world’s automobile giants — BMW, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Tototo, Honda, Hyundai — present here. If we give one benefit to one company, we have to give that benefit to other companies also. That is the practical problem,” he elaborated. (IANS)