| | JUNE 20238Tesla Inc has proposed setting up a factory in India to build electric cars for domestic sale and export, the carmaker told government officials on Wednesday, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.The company did not discuss lowering import tax on electric cars, the person told.Senior Tesla executives are in India this week to meet the government to discuss local sourcing of parts and other issues, sources reported on Tuesday.Nearly a year after postponing its plans to sell vehicles there due to inability to negotiate lower import taxes--which CEO Elon Musk claimed to be among the highest in the world--the electric carmaker has recently expressed a renewed interest in the market.Local sourcing is in line with Modi's 'Make-in-India' campaign pitch to manufacturers, especially as businesses look to expand their supply chains beyond China. Paytm has appointed Bhavesh Gupta, a key leader in its lending sector, as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) in order to boost its lending operations in the face of increasing competition in the digital lending space.According to a stock exchange filing by One 97 Communications Limited, which owns the fintech, Gupta will now be responsible for leading verticals of lending, insurance, payments-online and offline, consumer payments, and driving key initiatives such as user growth, operations risk, fraud risk, and compliance. Gupta will continue to report to Paytm's managing director and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma.Prior to joining the fintech unicorn in 2020, Gupta was the CEO of Clix Capital (formerly known as GE Capital) and has been in the industry for more than 25 years, Paytm said in the filing. Gupta has also previously headed SME (small and medium enterprises) and business banking at IDFC Bank and was an executive at ICICI Bank, one of the biggest private banks in India. He is a graduate of Delhi University and has completed his MBA from the Institute of Management Studies, Indore.Gupta's promotion to assume greater responsibilities, particularly in the lending operations, aligns with Paytm's aggressive expansion plans for its digital lending business, as more companies join the frenzy. Paytm's biggest rival, Walmart-backed PhonePe, has started digital lending pilots and the company might soon apply for an NBFC (non-banking financial company) license, its founder and CEO told in an interview. Apart from PhonePe, many fintech companies including Cred, Jar, and KreditBee among others have been looking to double down on digital lending as India largely continues to be a credit-starved country. These companies have also raised large sums from investors in the recent past, notwithstanding the funding winter. In fact, lending-focused companies have dominated the overall funding this year. TESLA RESUMES TALK OF BUILDING FACTORY IN INDIAPAYTM PROMOTES BHAVESH GUPTA TO COO & PRESIDENTIN FOCUSIN FOCUSTHE DEAL WILL HELP RELIANCE RETAIL STRENGTHEN ITS DOMINANT POSITION IN INDIA'S MAMMOTH RETAIL SECTOR, WHICH IS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING MARKETS GLOBALLY
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