Tesla finally launches in India, but at a price that doesn’t make sense

Tesla has finally launched in India after several false starts. Still, the automaker isn’t taking advantage of the deal to avoid tariffs, resulting in prices that don’t make much sense for the market.

India was the largest market in which Tesla had yet to launch its vehicles.

There have been several attempts to launch in the country over the last 5 years, but they were always canceled.

Over the past few months, a new initiative has been underway, and it has shown promise.

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It came after India finally reached a compromise on its import duties on cars last year, opening the door for Tesla and other EV automakers to launch in the country.

The deal involves significantly reducing import duties for a limited number of electric vehicles, provided the automaker makes a substantial investment and commitment to establish an electric vehicle factory in India within the coming years.

Since then, Tesla has started hiring service and sales staff, and there have been several reports that the automaker is closing in on some retail and service locations.

However, we learned earlier this year that Tesla reportedly informed India that it had no plans to manufacture EVs in the country. Therefore, it didn’t plan to take advantage of the deal to avoid import duties.

Now, Tesla has officially opened Model Y orders in India and quotes first deliveries in Q3 2025:

Tesla is selling the Model Y RWD for ₹61,07,190, which is the equivalent of $71,000 USD, and the Model Y Long Range is ₹69,15,190 or the equivalent of $80,000 USD.

These prices are almost twice what people pay in the US. Therefore, it’s clear that Tesla is not taking advantage of the deal for reduced duties with the promise of an investment in EV manufacturing.

Electrek’s Take

Tesla will see little to no demand for the Model Y in India at this price.

Many thought that Tesla would match the launch in India with the new stripped-down Model Y, which would be cheaper, but apparently not.

Even then, with the import duties, the stripped-down Model Y would still be the equivalent of about $60,000 USD in India, and that’s still way too much.

I’m not sure what the plan is here.