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Land-use permits issued for Tesla ‘gigafactory’ in Nuevo León

MND Staff
By MND Staff
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A render of Tesla's planned Nuevo León factory, touted as part of Mexico's nearshoring trend
Tesla released renders of its planned "gigafactory" in Nuevo León — a project which is now indefinitely paused. (Tesla)

The federal Environment Ministry (Semarnat) has issued land-use permits to Tesla for its planned “gigafactory” in Nuevo León.

A Semarnat office in Nuevo León notified the electric vehicle manufacturer of the decision on Monday. The company still hasn’t obtained water and energy permits, the El Economista newspaper reported.

A Tesla factory assembly line. (Tesla)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the gigafactory project in March, and said in October that construction of the initial phase will begin in early 2024.

The facility is set to be built on a 261-hectare site in Santa Catarina, a municipality just west of Monterrey that borders Coahuila. The land was previously zoned for forestry use but can now be used for industrial purposes. Tesla submitted an application for the change in late July.

Nuevo León Governor Samuel García acknowledged that Semarnat had issued the land-use permits.

“[I’m] very happy because I spoke with the environment minister and Tesla has already been notified of the federal permits,” he said.

On social media later on Wednesday, García – whose government has committed to build a range of infrastructure projects to support the gigafactory – said that Tesla “can now start its plant.”

The governor said in September that Tesla and its suppliers would invest US $15 billion in Nuevo León. Tesla hasn’t revealed how much it intends to invest in its gigafactory, but estimates are in the US $5-10 billion range.

The construction and operation of the plant is expected to generate thousands of jobs.

Musk said earlier this month that Tesla will make a new “low-cost” electric vehicle in Nuevo León, which has attracted significant “nearshoring” investment this year.

With reports from El Economista, Expansión and Milenio

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