The duo might partner to setup electric vehicle charging infrastructure in India. Tesla has opened its first India office recently
Tata Power, one of India’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure provider might team up with America’s Tesla to help the latter set up electric vehicle infrastruture in the country. Tesla has confirmed about setting up a EV manufacturing unit in the state of Karnataka.
The news of Tesla setting up a EV manufacturing unit in India had come out after a month of the company setting up its first office in Bangalore. Tata Power, on the other hand, has been busy setting up EV charging stations across various cities in India. Tata Power has also been setting these up for MG Motors in India.
It is also to be noted here that Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran had recently told the Times of India that Tata were not collaborating with Tesla. However, the news of Tata Power, and its possible collaboration with Tesla, has been doing rounds of several media news websites and papers since the last 24 hours. Neither Tata or Tesla have confirmed or denied any advancements in the field what so ever.
“Our EV charging business are constantly examining and exploring various growth opportunities of the business. No arrangement or agreements have been finalised as reported in the media,” Tata Power said in a stock exchange filing. It is evidently clear here that Tata Power is neither confirming nor denying a possible collaboration between the two heavyweights.
In fact, the likes of electric vehicles that the Tata Group will launch under the banner of Jaguar and Land Rover might actually go on to head Tesla EVs not only in India but in many other parts of the world as well. One of Tesla’s recent offerings, its pickup truck, might head on to a straight competition between the two companies.
Back in the USA, Tesla has been running a supercharger program where it invites individuals and institutions to setup charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. It is too early to comment if the company will run a similar program in India or not.
Tata Power, on the other hand, now has over 300 superfast charging stations installed in partnership with leading car brands and another 2000 Home Charging stations. Tata Power has also part-commissioned the EV charging infrastructure for BEST buses in Mumbai. These charging stations are located over 40 different cities in India.
The company has recently collaborated with Central Railway, Mumbai, and UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The trio have announced the launch of their novel green initiative for promoting e-mobility in Mumbai. As a part of this initiative, charging points for electrical vehicles will be made available at all important railway stations in the island city, the suburbs and adjoining Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
MG Motor India had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Power in 2019 as well. As part of the MoU, Tata Power is deploying 50KW DC super-fast chargers at select MG dealership locations and offer end-to-end EV charging solutions to MG dealerships spread across India.
