The wait is over. Tesla has finally launched in India. The all-electric carmaker has officially opened up sales in the world’s third-largest auto market, hoping that a foothold in this fast-growing economy could help counteract the company’s recent global slump. On Tesla’s newly launched India webpage, customers can now place orders. But the offering is limited: Tesla is only selling the Model Y SUV, available in two variants—Rear-Wheel Drive with a base price of ₹59,89,000 ($69,647) and Long-Range Rear-Wheel Drive priced at ₹67,89,000 ($78,950). For comparison, the same Long-Range Model Y costs just $44,990 in the United States. That’s before applying the $7,500 federal EV tax credit available to eligible U.S. buyers, which can bring the effective price down to $37,490, less than half of what Tesla is charging in India. That price tag is simply out of reach for most Indians. As of 2025, the average annual salary in India is approximately ₹3,58,000, or about $4,186, according to Payroll data. That means the base Model Y costs more than 17 times what an average Indian earns in a year. The sticker shock raises tough questions: why is Tesla entering a price-sensitive market with a product that’s so clearly unaffordable for the vast majority of potential buyers? Tesla hopes a policy shift could change that. “Tesla hopes that India’s current high automotive import tax of 70%-100% will be reduced to around 10% in the near future, which will enable them to not only lower the cost of the Model Y for the consumer, but also enable them to import cars from Giga Berlin instead of Giga Shanghai,” explained Sawyer Merritt, a Tesla investor and close watcher of the company, on X (formerly Twitter). NEWS: Tesla has officially launched orders of the Model Y in India! The first ever Tesla car deliveries in the country will start this quarter (Q3 2025). Starting prices: