Tesla Signs Lease To Open Its First India Showroom In BKC Mumbai

It's official. Tesla Inc. is set to open its first India showroom in Mumbai.

The Elon Musk-led electric carmaker has leased a 4,003-square-foot space in the Maker Maxity building in the Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, according to registration documents sourced from CRE Matrix, a real estate data analytics firm.

The licensee is Tesla India Motor & Energy Pvt., which has an office at Panchsheel Business Park in Viman Nagar, Pune. The licensor is Univco Properties LLP. 

Tesla India has put down Rs 2.11 crore as a security deposit for the space and will pay Rs 35.26 lakh as monthly rent, the registration documents showed. The rent will increase at the rate of 5% per annum. The rent agreement is for a period of five years.

NDTV Profit has seen a copy of the leave and license agreement.

The development comes amid fervent news-making over Tesla's entry into India, ever since Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington, DC, on Feb. 13.

Since then, Tesla has listed 20 job openings in India—15 in Mumbai and 5 in Pune—and set its sights on opening showrooms in Mumbai and Delhi. On Feb. 19, NDTV Profit reported that Tesla is likely to enter India in the second half of 2025 with the Model Y in tow.

The Tesla Model Y, upon launch, would cost Rs 60-70 lakh, at least. That would position it against the entry-level EV offerings of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.

“Tesla is set to disrupt whichever segment it enters India with,” Gaurav Vangaal, associate director—LVP forecasting at S&P Global, told NDTV Profit over the phone on Feb. 19.

While he didn't hazard a guess at which price points Tesla's cars will sit at, he said anything higher than Rs 50 lakh will eat into the market share of the Germans (Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW), and anything close to Rs 25-35 lakh would be worrisome for Indians (Tata Motors and Mahindra).

“Tesla would ideally take a top-down approach to its India play—enter with completely built-up units and then follow it up with completely knocked-down kits.,” Vangaal said. And if and when it comes, it'll bring the full package: vertically stacked manufacturing and the complete battery and charging ecosystem.

Additionally, Tesla enjoys a brand equity bar none, Vangaal said. “So, while we may take time to warm up to a Vinfast or BYD, Tesla is already well-known. Aspirational even.”

Meanwhile, in the power corridors of the national capital, at least three central government ministries are hard at work hammering out the details of India's EV manufacturing policy—seen as a pathway for Tesla to make in India. On offer are reduced tariffs on imports and easier localisation norms.

To be sure, Tesla's entry into India would work in favour of the electric carmaker that's facing its worst sales in decades. Monthly shipments have tanked in the United States to Germany and China—countries where Tesla operates at least one factory. Tesla is unlikely to set up a factory in India immediately. Its cars will be fully imported initially.