India 'confident' new EV policy measures will allow more foreign players to enter market

India is confident that its new electric vehicle policy measures will open up the market to more global players, said the country's secretary of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

Last month, the government rolled out key initiatives aimed at bolstering the country's position in EV manufacturing.

"It involves concessional tariffs for limited volumes of imports by global EV manufacturers, linked to ironclad commitment by them to invest in India a minimum of $500 million," Rajesh Kumar Singh told CNBC's Sri Jegarajah.

"And also meet very stiff localization targets of 25% by the third year and 50% by the fifth year," he added. "It was meant for all global EV manufacturers and domestic manufacturers."

While much of the "buzz has been around Tesla," Singh underscored the initiatives will also attract other foreign automakers, highlighting that Vietnam's leading EV maker "VinFast has already announced its intent."    

"While I don't want to mention some of the other companies who are interested, we are very confident that multiple companies will be taking advantage of this policy."

In February, VinFast broke ground on its integrated EV manufacturing facility in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu. The company plans to initially invest $500 million over five years, with a projected capacity of 150,000 vehicles annually, according to the statement.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he is "incredibly excited about the future of India." But he recently postponed a scheduled trip during which he was set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing "heavy Tesla obligations" for why he couldn't come.

"The door is, obviously, very much open," to Tesla said Singh. As competition in India's EV sector remains limited, the