India has no plans to cut import tariffs on electric vehicles, an Indian government deputy minister said on Monday. A few weeks ago,TeslaCEO Musk called on the Indian government to slash import tariffs on electric vehicles and hinted that it would consider building a factory in India.

But Krishan Pal Gurjar, India's deputy minister of heavy industry, told parliament on Monday that "the Ministry of heavy Industry has not considered such a proposal." The Ministry of heavy Industry of India is responsible for formulating policies for the automobile industry. However, he added that the government is taking measures to promote the use of electric vehicles by reducing domestic taxes and increasing charging stations.

Tesla, Inc. wrote to India's transport and industry departments last month asking them to reduce import tariffs on electric vehicles to 40 per cent from the current 60 per cent. Mr Musk, the company's CEO, said in a subsequent tweet that Tesla, Inc. was "very likely" to build a factory in India if the electric carmaker could start selling imported cars first.

Mr Musk has been eager to enter the Indian market for years, but he complains that Indian rules prohibit him from testing the waters with imported cars in the first place because high tariffs make Tesla, Inc. cars "unaffordable" to locals.