When the news broke out that Tesla has registered its R&D office in Bengaluru, India and looking forward to start manufacturing its automobiles in India, several State Govts tried to negotiate and offered land to Tesla to set-up its Mega-factory. Given that India has extremely huge potential for automobile industry and current Central Govt encourages Electric Vehicle manufacturing. In last 4-5 years several start-ups are manufacturing electric vehicles and few brands like Tata, MG, Hyundai have already have few electric cars in the market. Bengaluru has been headquarters for few electric vehicle start-ups such as Reva, Ather and now Ola.
Two young creative entrepreneurs from Tumakuru, Karnataka have initiated a campaign #TeslaForTumakuru urging State Govt to consider Tumakuru to set-up Tesla’s Mega-factory. And their reasoning is quite convincing as well. When asked Dr.Prathik Jain, founder of ManuealIndian based men’s grooming company why he wants Tesla’s Mega-Factory in Tumakuru, he responded “Approximately around 30000-50000 residents from Tumakuru commute to Bengaluru almost every day for their work. If Tesla starts manufacturing in Tumakuru, it would give job opportunities to thousands of people and definitely encourage people to settle down in Tumakuru.” Adding on to Dr.Prathik’s statement, his friend Ravi Sagar says ”Tumakuru has been educational hub over a decade. People across the country come to Tumakuru to pursue Engineering and other technical courses.And they have had a good career growth being placed in several top MNCs. Tumakuru has around 7 top Engineering colleges in the state and there are highly talented graduates and post-graduates to offer from the city.” Ravi Sagar himself studied at an engineering college and an entrepreneur himself in Tumakuru. He has opted a creative career and owns Aequitas Studios which addresses creative requirements in Tumakuru and Bengaluru as well.
They both suggested that Karnataka Govt can offer VasanthaNarasapura Industrial estate to Tesla. VasanthaNarasapuraIndustrial estate is one of India’s largest industrial estates which is ideally located on Bengaluru-Pune highway. It is situated just 15 km from Tumakuru. There are several developmental projects been proposed and are under pipeline. It’s been said that there is a proposal for mini airport near the industrial estate as well. Close toVasanthaNarasapuraIndustrial estate work is process to set-up Rayadurga railway junction which is likely to be completed very soon. It is alleged that Karnataka Govt is look out for options to extend Metro-Rail connectivity from Nelamangala to VasanthaNarasapuraIndustrial estate which can be a huge boost to the companies situated at the location with respect to commuting and transportation. Tumakuru has several industrial estates around it. Central Govt’s HAL and ISRO are been set-up in Tumakuru. Definitely it would be a huge advantage for Tesla to have its manufacturing set-up in Tumakuru which is 1 hour drive from Bengaluru and has got good connectivity through road, railways and airways.
Despite Ather and Ola are Bengaluru based start-ups their factories have been set-up at Hosur, Tamil Nadu which doesn’t give any brownie points to Karnataka Govt which has failed to support its native start-up companies. Hence we would like to urge Karnataka Govt and Tesla on behalf of Dr.Prathik& Ravi Sagar to consider Tumakuru as primary option to start Tesla’s Mega-factory.
Dr.Prathik Jain “Businesses in Tumakuru will increase more as Telsa would offer jobs to over 5000-10000 people directly or indirectly. It would increase the standard of living in and around the city. Dependency on Bengaluru for jobs reduces.” Which we can agree upon. “Having such futuristic company like Tesla in the neighbourhood would put Tumakuru on International industrial map.” Sums up Ravi Sagar. We would request follow residents and entrepreneurs of Tumakuru to support these two young entrepreneurs through #TeslaForTumakuru campaign for the good of its own people.
Shashk Tiwari in (22/08/2006) Known as Shashk Tiwari from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh as musician