Tesla Inc. is now a step closer to making its debut in India as the company received approval for four models in the country. The company has got the approval to manufacture or import four models of vehicles that are certified as roadworthy in the country. 

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According to a posting on the Ministry of Road Transport website, the vehicles received approval today. "The tests ensure the vehicle matches the requirements of the Indian market in terms of emission and safety and roadworthiness," according to the site. The approval was first noticed by a Tesla fan club on Twitter and said that the approvals were probably for the Model 3 and Model Y variants. 

“Tesla has completed homologation and received approval for 4 of its vehicle variants in India. While we don’t have any confirmation on names as yet, these are probably Model 3 and Model 4 variants,” Tesla Fan Club India tweeted.

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To put things into perspective, every car manufacturer in the country needs to get their vehicles certified locally before an official launch. Tesla set up a company based in India last year, i.e. Tesla India Motors and Energy Pvt. Ltd. The company registration marked Tesla’s entry into the country for manufacturing and selling electric cars in the country. Having said that, the company might find it difficult to grow in the initial years as EVs only account for 1% of the Indian car market. 

It is worth pointing out that even though the company has received approval from the Indian regulators, it does not mean the company can immediately launch the car. However, it does mean that the company is a step closer to launching or manufacturing four Tesla models in the country. 

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Elon Musk has been requesting a cut in the import duty on electric vehicles and related parts since Tesla is looking to fully import some of its vehicles in the initial stages before starting production in the country. Musk said previously that a factory in India is “quite likely” if the electric vehicle company can first test waters with imported vehicles. 

India imposes some of the highest import duty rates in the world where a fully built car can attract a tariff of up to 100%. Cars that are assembled locally from imported parts attract a far lower tax. 

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