On July 15, 2025, the long wait ended for Tesla enthusiasts in India as the company officially opened its first showroom in Mumbai and began accepting orders for the Model Y. A second showroom is also set to open soon in Delhi, along with Superchargers in both cities.
Back in 2021, Tesla established a subsidiary named “Tesla Motors India Energy Private Limited”. At that time, there was considerable discussion and optimism regarding investments, with the Indian government expressing a warm welcome for Tesla to establish significant projects, particularly the building of a new Gigafactory in the country. However, after that initial excitement, progress stalled.
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In early 2024, the Indian government launched a special Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) program called the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars (SMEC). This program allows automakers to initially import BEVs with a reduced duty, decreasing from a range of 70-100% to just 15% within a limited quota, provided that participating automakers establish local manufacturing within two years. Since then, many media outlets have pointed to Tesla as a potential frontrunner, but no company has officially declared its participation in the program as of now.
As time has passed, market conditions have evolved: India has become the world’s third-largest car market, and around 2.7% of the 4 mn Passenger Cars sold in 2024 were BEVs. Tata Motors and MG (including a joint venture with JSW Group) lead the BEV market with their popular mass-market models, while Mahindra, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, and Maruti Suzuki are also introducing their own offerings. Thus, the Indian market continues to present growth opportunities in the BEV segment.
In contrast to other markets, India still faces broader geopolitical tensions, complicating entry for Chinese automakers. For instance, BYD Auto has been unable to establish local manufacturing, resulting in high import duties. Consequently, BYD models in India are significantly more expensive than in other countries.
Interestingly, Tesla has chosen to enter India through Completely Built-Up (CBU) imports, which also face high import duties. Tesla is offering only the Model Y in two variants: Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) and Long Range RWD. The company has not officially disclosed the origin of these vehicles, leading to speculation about whether they come from Gigafactory Shanghai, Gigafactory Berlin, or Gigafactory Texas. However, based on some revealed technical specifications, we assume that the vehicles are sourced from Berlin, as the RWD variant has a range of 500 km—as per the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP)—while the variant from Shanghai has a range of only 466 km (WLTP). If our assumption is correct, it indicates that Tesla has conducted thorough research to avoid geopolitical conflicts.
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By GlobalDataIn terms of Tesla’s prospects in India, the automaker has set the starting price of the Model Y at INR5.99 million ($69,000) for the RWD variant and INR6.79 million ($79,000) for the Long Range RWD variant, which are significantly higher than their prices in other markets and nearly double those in the US.
With these price points, Tesla India will position itself in the Premium segment, rather than the mass-market segment, as seen in the US and Europe. Meanwhile, BYD remains a direct competitor in India’s Premium market. Our forecast predicts that Passenger BEV sales in India will reach 1.1 mn units by 2030, with Premium and Luxury BEV sales accounting for around 40k units. Given the limited number of outlets and its price positioning, we estimate that Tesla will be able to sell approximately 2k units annually through 2030.
Kwan Wongwetsawat, Senior Analyst, Global Powertrain, GlobalData
This article was first published on GlobalData’s dedicated research platform, the Automotive Intelligence Center.
