Aaditya Thackeray invites invites Elon Musk's Tesla to Maharashtra

Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena leader and son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, on October 22 said he has invited Elon Musk's Tesla, the US-based electric carmaker, to the state.

Taking to Twitter, the young leader said that he participated in a video call by Maharashtra Industries Minister Subash Desai to invite Tesla.

Thackeray further explained that the ruling government in the state is "firmly committed to policy building and changes for sustainable development."

Earlier this month, Tesla Inc chief executive Elon Musk indicated that the company could make a foray into India in 2021. The company's entry may come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is increasingly becoming focused on promoting the use and manufacture of electric vehicles.

India's auto sector, already reeling from a slowdown in demand last year, has been further hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic and carmakers are seeking government support to push sales.

"Next year for sure," Musk said on Twitter in reply to a post with a photograph of a T-shirt with the message: "India wants Tesla". "Thanks for waiting," Musk said.

However, Maharashtra isn't eyeing Tesla's entry into India alone. Karnataka government has also reached out to Elon Musk-led Tesla for setting up their operation in IT city Bengaluru as a possible investment destination to set up a vehicle manufacturing unit.

Soon after the Covid-19 related lockdowns, the Karnataka government has gone on an overdrive to get international investors to expand to Karnataka and bring in more investments - and thus jobs - to the State. As part of this outreach to big guns in every sector, Tesla too was tapped to set up a gigafactory - a manufacturing unit for solar panels and batteries - in Bengaluru.

Recently, Tesla had announced the price cut for its Model S "Long Range" sedan by 4% in the United States, days after the electric-car maker reported record quarterly deliveries. The company cut the price to $71,990 from $74,990 in the United States. It also trimmed the starting price of Model S by 3% in China. Earlier this month, the carmaker cut the starting price of its Chinese-made Model 3 sedans by about 8% to 249,900 yuan ($36,805).