Tesla India Motor & Energy Pvt Ltd has taken office space on lease for five years at Panchshil Business Park in Pune at a starting monthly rent of ₹11.65 lakh, its first real office setup in India.

The 5,850 sq feet of space located on the first floor has been leased from the building operator Tablespace Technologies. The lock-in period for the lease is 36 months and the rent escalates 5 per cent annually. The rent commencement date is October 1, according to the registration details made available by data analytics firm CRE Matrix. The period until then will be used for fit-outs.

The effective starting rent works out to ₹199 per sq feet a month. There is a provision for renewing the lease for another five years.

Tesla founder Elon Musk had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month when Musk had reportedly said that he was ‘finetuning’ his India entry and investing in a car-making facility in the country.

“We are just trying to figure out the right timing … I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible,” reports quoted Musk as saying.

What India wants

According to reports, the Indian government wants the electric carmaker to emulate Apple in India and find local partners who can collaborate with Chinese suppliers. India is averse to having wholly-owned Chinese auto components companies setting up base in the country. Many parts, critical in the production of electric cars, are not available in India and have to be sourced from China.

Tesla’s India arm was registered in Bengaluru in early 2021. In 2019, Musk had started expressing interest in setting up operations in India but the progress has been slow.

Also read: Tesla plans to roll out EVs at a starting price of ₹20 lakh in India: report

There were reports of the company setting up its first office in India in Mumbai’s Lower Parel area as well as opening a retail showroom in the city, but nothing has come of that so far.

Musk has also been lobbying with the Indian government to cut import duties on electric cars, as he wanted to import and sell Tesla cars in the country and gauge its success.

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