Tesla in India: Musk's 2017 Promise — and What Actually Happened

If Elon Musk had his way, Tesla would be selling cars in India — a huge new market — soon.

Answering a question from a Twitter user in February 2017 about when the electric carmaker would finally enter India, Musk replied that he was "hoping for summer this year." He didn't go into detail, and Tesla didn't respond to requests for comment.

India's economy — more than 1.3 billion people — presented huge potential for the Silicon Valley company. But there were challenges. Tesla made no cars in India, which meant paying hefty import duties, and setting up a manufacturing operation is a long, arduous process — as Apple was learning at the time. India's crowded roads and unreliable electricity grid weren't obviously suited to Tesla's sleek battery-driven cars, either.

"If it works there, it will work everywhere," one Twitter user responded.

Musk had already signaled his ambitions: India was on the list of countries where Tesla's new Model 3 was open for pre-order, and in an earlier tweet he had said the eventual rollout would include an India-wide network of superchargers — the roadside stations that replenish Tesla batteries in "minutes instead of hours." If Tesla made it, its electric cars could help make a dent in India's notorious air pollution.

Update: Musk's "summer this year" didn't happen. Tesla finally entered India on July 15, 2025 — opening its first showroom at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex and selling the Model Y (imported from Shanghai) from about Rs 60 lakh, with import duties pushing prices far above global levels. A Delhi showroom was reported to follow. Manufacturing in India remains uncommitted.