A person with firsthand knowledge of the situation told Reuters that Tesla executives are scheduled to meet with India’s commerce minister this month to discuss plans to create a factory to make what the company has billed as an all-new $24,000 automobile.

According to the source, Tesla has expressed interest in developing a plant in India that would manufacture affordable electric vehicles (EVs) for both the domestic market and export. The company has also stated that the plant would produce the new vehicle.

The negotiations mark a remarkable turn around for the corporation after calls from government officials to commit to locally producing cars last year derailed efforts to lower import duties on EVs delivered to India.

Since Elon Musk met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June and declared his intention to make a sizable investment in the nation, the meeting with the commerce minister would be the highest level of conversations between Tesla and the Indian government.

In conversations regarding a future Indian plant, EV Tesla reps reportedly mentioned a 2 million rupee ($24,000) vehicle that would be 25% less expensive than its current entry-level Model 3 sedan, which costs just over $32,200 in China.

The Times of India newspaper stated earlier this month that the new Tesla vehicle’s target price is $24,000.

There were no comments on the issue available from Tesla.

In India, the third-largest auto market in the world, electric vehicle sales now make up less than 2% of all vehicle sales.

Tesla executives visited India in May, according to Reuters, and spoke with government representatives about setting up a base for manufacturing cars and batteries there.

Resumption of discussions with Indian government representatives in New Delhi is planned for this month, according to two persons with knowledge of the talks who declined to be identified because the conversations are ongoing in confidence.

The first person stated that as part of that, Tesla representatives are scheduled to meet with Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and conversations are anticipated to revolve on creating an EV supply chain and talking about land allocation for a factory.

There were no comments on the matter from the Indian commerce ministry.

Since the beginning of the year, Tesla has aggressively discounted its current models, and Musk has consistently stated that lowering the price of EVs significantly will be essential to the company’s long-term viability.

Tesla has stated that its next-generation car platform will reduce production costs by 50% and that various models, including an autonomous “robotaxi,” might be created from it without providing any further information regarding these upcoming vehicles’ specifications or prices.

This low-cost, high-volume platform will be used to build automobiles in a Tesla factory now being built in Mexico, and it will also be used at other plants, according to the company.

Tesla presently manufactures EVs in Texas and California. It has facilities in Shanghai and Berlin outside of North America.

With about 40% of the automaker’s total global capacity located in its main factory, Shanghai, Tesla is the largest. There are plans to increase capacity there, but they need regulatory approval first.

(Adapted from LiveMint.com)