Elon Musk’s company Tesla is reportedly looking for land in Satara, Maharashtra, to set up a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) assembly plant for its electric vehicles (EVs).
According to a report from Business Standard, Tesla had previously explored a joint venture with Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering, but the deal did not go through.
Tesla has also been in talks with other Indian companies about building a CKD plant, although Moneycontrol has not independently confirmed these discussions.
Tesla’s Plan to Enter the Indian Market by 2026
Tesla is expected to enter the Indian market by April 2026. The company had posted job advertisements for positions in Mumbai, Delhi, and Pune, which indicated its plans to enter India after a meeting between Elon Musk and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Modi’s US visit.
In March, Reuters reported that Tesla had signed a deal to open its first showroom in Mumbai, aimed at selling imported electric vehicles.
Tesla signed a five-year lease for a 4,003-square-foot space and will pay about $446,000 in rent for the first year.
However, before entering India, Prashant Menon, Tesla’s country head for India, resigned after serving for nine years.
As a result, Tesla’s China teams will now oversee operations in India, as reported by Bloomberg.
What is a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) Plant?
A Completely Knocked Down (CKD) plant is a type of assembly facility where car parts are sent from various countries to a local location.
These parts are then assembled into the final vehicle, rather than importing the fully assembled product.
The main advantage of CKD plants is that they allow companies to reduce import duties. By assembling the vehicles locally, the company can avoid high import duties on finished goods.
A similar approach is used by Apple to assemble iPhones in India, where parts are imported and assembled locally to reduce costs.
