The 277-hectare SEZ project located inside the Jawaharlal Nehru Port will be soon approaching Tesla Motors for setting up a manufacturing facility at the port.

S Sittarasu, CEO of the SEZ, told BusinessLine that given the strategic location of the site, Tesla may find it an ideal fit.

Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari had visited Tesla’s San Francisco factory in mid-July and had invited the US automaker to set up its local facilities in a joint venture with Indian automobile companies. He had suggested to Tesla management to make India its Asian manufacturing hub and offered land near major Indian ports to facilitate export of vehicles to South and South-East Asian countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Tesla’s facilities in September 2015 and had discussed battery technologies with the company’s CEO Ellon Musk.

During that visit, Musk had said the company might set up a Gigafactory in India to make lithium ion batteries.

However, in June this year, Bloomberg had reported that Jinqiao Group, a Shanghai government-owned company, has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Tesla on building its production facilities in the Chinese province.

Sittarasu said that the JNPT SEZ is not spread over a very large area but it is strategically located with marine, road and train connectivity.

South Korean automaker Hyundai and its subsidiaries will also be invited for an anchor customer, he said.

He said that the port management was looking at potential companies investing in the SEZ from the angle of employment generation, investment potential and large turnover.

Companies with a good top line growth and capital-intensive line of manufacturing will be welcomed, he said.

Sittarasu said that given the potential of the site, the SEZ management was primarily focussed on attracting large industries from countries such as the US, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Other investments Along with automobiles scouting for potential investment is also being done for electronics, defence and heavy engineering sector, he said.

The foundation stone of the SEZ was laid by Prime Minister Modi in August 2014.

It is seen as a project of national importance. Preliminary studies have shown the SEZ has a potential to generate about 1.5 lakh jobs directly and indirectly.

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