A Tesla executive who has been integral in helping the company expand into India has reportedly quit, after the company failed to clinch lowered import duties on cars.
Manuj Khurana, the policy and business development at Tesla India, has departed from the company after the automaker halted talks about selling cars in India, according to two sources familiar with the matter who told Reuters.
Khurana played a major role in lobbying the Indian government for lowered import taxes, which can be as high as 100 percent in the country, which Tesla expected to use to test out the market.
India to Tesla: Buy $500 Million in Local Car Parts, If You Want Lower Taxes https://t.co/NW7gmHQDdG
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) February 16, 2022
While Tesla wanted to import cars from its Gigafactory Shanghai in China before investing in a factory in India, the government insisted on the automaker manufacturing locally before it could offer lower taxes or other concessions.
Khurana was Tesla’s first employee in India, and with his departure, even other plans such as searching for a showroom have been put to rest.
In a statement, one of the sources said, “Tesla’s plans to launch in India right now are as good as dead.”
As of writing, our checks of Khurana’s LinkedIn page still says he’s employed at Tesla.
Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that the automaker would not begin manufacturing in any country where it wouldn’t be allowed to sell and service cars first.
