Tesla electric cars in India by 2020? Elon Musk thinks so

Elon Musk has put a timeline for the entry of the company's electric car on Indian roads. In a recent interaction with IIT Madras students the Tesla CEO said that the car may run on Indian roads in 2020. The Avishkar Hyperloop team from IIM Madras participated in the finals of 'SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition 2019' that was organised by the American company when Musk gave that statement.

The team asked Musk when was he planning to bring his electric car to India. IIT Madras said in a statement that the CEO responded to the query by saying that is it probably going to happen in a year's time.

The Tesla CEO has been trying to enter the Indian market for a couple of years but has been unsuccessful so far. He had also tweeted in March this year that he plans to be in India in 2019 or next year. "Would love to be there this year. If not, definitely next!," he had responded to a user.

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Musk had also earlier stated that the government policies and the FDI norms are behind the delay in the electric car's entry into the Indian market.

Tesla was expected to enter the Indian market with the Model 3 that is priced at nearly $35,000.

Chennai-based automaker Ashok Leylad had said in May this year that it is open for a partnership with Tesla to help the company bring its vehicles to India. "We are open to Musk's offer. I truly believe that it's not just one partner who can contribute to the electric car dream in India. There are multiple agencies who will be involved in this. We will be lucky to be part of that consortium," said Venkatesh Natarajan, Senior VP and Chief Digital Officer.

However, the company had later clarified that it is not in talks with the US electric car-maker.

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