Elon Musk recently announced a deferment of his anticipated visit to India, citing significant commitments with Tesla as the primary reason. There was widespread expectation that Musk's visit would coincide with the unveiling of plans to set up a Tesla manufacturing unit in India, especially in light of the government's recent incentive of reduced import duties on certain electric vehicles. This incentive is available provided there is a commitment to invest a minimum of $500 million in local manufacturing within a span of three years. Musk expressed his eagerness to reschedule the visit for later in the year.

However, analysts are quite sure that Tesla will ultimately set up a base in India, after we overtook Japan as the world’s third largest automobile market. This can be interpreted as a potential remarkable competition in the Indian automotive industry. As Tesla makes luxury electric vehicles, even though the affordable EV segment wouldn’t worry much, the luxury EV makers in India will be watchful.

The Indian EV market is expected to skyrocket in the next three to four years. According to a recent research report by Counterpoint Research, India's EV sales are expected to increase by 66 percent in 2024, and the EV market share in the passenger vehicle segment will double to 4 percent from 2 percent in 2023. As Tesla is expected to set new benchmarks in the EV segment, the Indian companies must up their game. The writing on the wall is clear: The Indian EV industry needs more leaders with innovation and courage in their hearts. This yearly special issue of CEO Insights sheds light on some of the leaders in the manufacturing industry who are looking good to command India Inc to its future.