Maharashtra govt invites Tesla after Elon Musk hints entry into India

 

(Reuters) - India's richest state Maharashtra has invited U.S. electric-car maker Tesla Inc, weeks after its Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk suggested entering the country next year.

In a tweet https://twitter.com/AUThackeray/status/1319303674967977984 on Thursday, state tourism and environment minister Aaditya Thackeray said he and industries minister Subhash Desai held a video call with Tesla executives earlier in the day to invite them to the state.

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

Tesla's entry into Asia's third largest economy could come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is increasingly focusing to promote the use of electric vehicles.

 

Tesla should disable 'autopilot' until it installs safeguards: US senetor

Democratic US Senator Ed Markey asked Tesla Inc on Wednesday to disable its "Autopilot" driver-assistance system until it installs new safeguards to prevent drivers from evading system limits that could let them fall asleep.

"Tesla should disable Autopilot until it fixes the problem, Markey said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on advanced vehicle technologies.

Markey, who wrote to Tesla about the issue earlier this week, cited YouTube videos and press reports that suggested drivers could travel long distances without touching the steering wheel by using an object to defeat requirements that drivers should regularly touch the wheel "even if they are literally asleep."

Markey cited a local news report that said a driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel as a Tesla drove 14 miles on Autopilot. Other unconfirmed videos on social media appear to show drivers sleeping behind the wheel of Tesla vehicles.

"That's not safe. Somebody is going to die because they can go to YouTube as a driver - find a way to (get around safety requirements)," Markey said. "We can't entrust the lives of our drivers and everyone else on the road to a water bottle."

Acting National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) chief James Owens told Markey at the hearing Wednesday the agency would be in touch with Tesla about the issue.

Tesla says drivers must keep their hands on the wheel at all times, but many owners say they can use the driver-assistance system to conduct other tasks behind the wheel.

Tesla did not immediately comment but said in September that since 2018, it has "made updates to our system, including adjusting the time intervals between hands-on warnings and the conditions under which they're activated."

A series of crashes involving Autopilot has prompted US investigations and criticism from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

In September, the NTSB said the Autopilot design was a key factor in a January 2018 crash of a Model S into a parked fire truck on a highway in California. The system's design "permitted the driver to disengage from the driving task" in the 2018 crash and allowed him to remove his hands from the wheel for nearly all of the last 14 minutes of the trip, it said.

Tesla's Autopilot was engaged during at least three fatal US crashes, and two remain under investigation by NHTSA and NTSB.

India considers incentives for Tesla, 323 others to set up shop in country

India is planning to offer 324 companies including Tesla Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline Plc incentives to set up factories in the South Asian nation in a bid to capitalize from the trade war between China and the U.S., according to a document seen by Bloomberg.

The government proposes to provide the manufacturers land to set up a factory along with power, water and road access, according to draft of the document prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and Invest India. Other companies that officials will reach out to include Eli Lilly & Co., South Korea’s Hanwha Chemical Corp., and Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.

While the trade war has benefited countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia, rigid land acquisition rules and labor laws have prompted investors to largely ignore India when looking for alternatives to China. The latest proposal may reduce red tape, and set the nation, which expanded at the slowest pace in six years last quarter, on a path to double its gross domestic product to $5 trillion by 2025 -- a goal set Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Under the plan, the government will create a land bank for ready-to-move-in industrial clusters, offer investment and location-based incentives and rationalize anti-dumping duties. The proposal includes incentives for plug-in and hybrid vehicles, fuel efficiency and carbon taxation. For the electronics and telecom sector, flexible employment, manufacturing-related incentives linked to investments and value addition have been sought.

The country has made progress, rising 37 spots since 2017 in the World Bank’s ranking for ease of doing business, but it still comes in at 63rd, trailing not only China, but also Rwanda and Kosovo. At present, investors keen on setting up a factory need to acquire land on their own which, in some cases, involves a time consuming process of negotiating with small plot owners to part with their holding.

The Prime Minister’s Office is considering the proposal and a decision is expected soon. An email sent to the spokeswoman at the commerce and industry ministry wasn’t immediately answered.

Asia’s third-largest economy expanded 5% in the June quarter, with slew of data pointing to weaker economic activity.

Getting investment inflows and boosting exports is therefore high on economic agenda of the government. It has already slashed corporate tax rate, making it competitive with rest of Asia, and has relaxed foreign investment rules to attract fund inflows in the country.