Tesla's call for tax breaks rejected by India in further setback

CEO Elon Musk wants India to lower taxes -- as high as 100% on imported EVs -- to enable the company to first sell vehicles built elsewhere at competitive prices

India turned down a demand of Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. for tax breaks to import electric cars, saying rules already allow bringing in partially-built vehicles and assembling them locally at a lower levy.

“We looked at whether the duties need to be re-jigged, but some domestic production is happening and some investments have come in with the current tariff structure,” Vivek Johri, chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, said in an interview Thursday. “So, it is clear that this is not a hindrance.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has encouraged Tesla to produce locally, while Musk wants India