Elon Musk-led Tesla signs 5-year office lease deal in Pune’s Viman Nagar

Days after two of its senior executives reportedly had a meeting with Invest India officials last week to discuss plans of entering India and setting up a manufacturing eletric vehicle plant, Elon Musk’s company Tesla India Motor & Energy Pvt Ltd has leased an office space in Panchshil Business Park in Viman Nagar, Pune.

The electric car manufacturer has entered into a five-year lease agreement with Tablespace Technologies Pvt Ltd to lease 5,850 sq.ft office on the first floor of B wing in Panchshil Business Park. Tesla will pay a monthly rent of ₹11.65 lakh and a security deposit of ₹34.95 lakh for leasing the space for 60 months. The lease deal will include five car parks and 10 bike parks as per the agreement registered on July 26, 2023, according to the documents accessed and shared by CRE Matrix, a real estate analytics firm.

According to the documents, two companies agreed for a lock in period of 36 months, with a 5% per annum escalation clause. The rent will commence from October 1, 2023.

Panchshil Business Park at Viman Nagar has a development size of 10,77,181 sq. Ft and is under construction, according to Panschil Realty website. It is located 500 m from Nagar Road and is just three kms from Pune international airport. It is easily accessible from residential areas like Kalyani Nagar, Koregaon Park, Wadgaonsheri and Kharadi.

Though Tesla’s Indian subsidiary was registered in Bengaluru in 2021, the company’s entry into India has been slow. A Reuters report in May said Tesla had proposed setting up a factory to build electric vehicles and manufacturing EV batteries in India. "They are very seriously looking at India as a production and innovation base," Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology of India, had told the agency in May.

In June, Musk had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his US trip and evinced interest in setting up a manufacturing facility in India. He had told reporters that Tesla was keen to make investments in India "I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible," Musk was quoted as saying.

Two of Tesla’s senior executives met with Invest India officials last week and have reportedly lined up more meetings in Delhi.

By Satish Nandgaonkar