"I truly believe that it's not just one partner who can contribute to the electric car dream in India. There are multiple agencies who will be involved in this," said Venkatesh Natarajan of Ashok Leyland
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk has been trying to enter the India market for a while now, with no concrete result. Now, however, Musk seems to have an open invitation from Indian commercial vehicles manufacturer, Ashok Leyland.
On the sidelines of the AWS India Summit, Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Ashok Leyland, Venkatesh Natarajan said that he is open to Musk's offer. "I truly believe that it's not just one partner who can contribute to the electric car dream in India. There are multiple agencies who will be involved in this. We will be lucky to be part of that consortium," he said.
"I go back to the organisation's philosophy and culture. Whenever we see new technology, we like to try it out, just like a small kid who sees a new toy and wants to experiment. We are open in terms of technology adoption -- anything that adds value to our customers," Natarajan added.
"Ultimately, we need more money. We are in the business of making money. As long as we are able to make more money and help our customers generate more money, we are game to every new technology," Natarajan said.
The report also says Ashok Leyland reported a revenue of Rs 6,325 crore in Q3 with year-to-date revenues going up by 15 percent over the same period last year up to Rs 20,209 crore.
According to an IANS report, rating agency ICRA recently upgraded Ashok Leyland's fund-based limits from AA with stable outlook to AA. According to ICRA the demand outlook for light commercial vehicle, and medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment is enough to bolster support for the company's financial profile.
Earlier this year, Musk broke silence on his India plans on twitter saying he would love to be in India in 2019 or by next year. He had earlier blamed the Indian government's FDI norms, also through a tweet, for stalling his entry into the country. "Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately," Musk tweeted.
Tesla was expected to debut in India with the $35,000 Model 3 car. In 2015 too, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid Musk a visit at the Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
