Ahead of Musk's India visit, Tesla advisor takes part in meeting on EV policy: Sources

Preparing ground for Musk's India visit: In the run-up to tech billionaire Elon Musk's India visit, a representative of the electric car maker Tesla is said to have attended a stakeholders' meeting on India's new Electric Vehicles policy on Thursday, sources privy to the matter said.

"This was a stakeholder consultation meeting seeking inputs for the guidelines to be framed for the new EV manufacturing policy. Tesla was represented by its advisor, The Asia Group (TAG). Vietnam's electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast was also present in the meeting," a senior official said.

The meeting saw the participation of representatives of all the major manufacturers in India including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, Kia, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, Renault were present in the meeting. In addition, representatives of luxury car makers Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, were also present, sources added.

Musk is expected to visit India in the week beginning April 22.

Officials from the Heavy Industries Ministry made a presentation about new EV policy in the meeting, the official said. The participants were mostly trying to understand the details of the policy deeper. It was more of consultation rather than committing to investments in the future, he added. 

(With PTI inputs)