Nuevo León Governor Samuel García revealed Wednesday that his government received a letter from Tesla asking it to commence infrastructure projects that will complement its planned factory near Monterrey.
Speaking in León, Guanajuato, after attending an industrial sector meeting, García said that Tesla asked for work to begin on a rail link to the proposed “gigafactory” in Santa Catarina, the expansion of four highways and a water treatment plant.
The governor has said previously that authorities would be obliged to build new infrastructure as part of the agreement reached with the Austin-based company led by Elon Musk.
García said that Tesla’s request would be sent to a “committee” whose authorization is required to move ahead with the infrastructure projects. He didn’t specify the body he was referring to.
“I hope that the committee authorizes [the projects] in order to comply with what we promised,” he said.
García said that the Nuevo León government wants Tesla to begin construction of its gigafactory as soon as possible, but didn’t cite a commencement date. It will be up to Musk to make that announcement, he said.
García predicted that 60 to 70 Tesla suppliers will set up operations in Mexico as a result of the company’s decision to invest in a large, multi-billion-dollar plant at which “next-gen” electric vehicles will be made.
“The spillover [of the Tesla investment] will be seen in Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí and Coahuila,” he said, referring to three states that border Nuevo León.
“But the investment is so big that the whole country will benefit,” García added.
The governor said last month that Tesla and its suppliers would invest US $15 billion in Nuevo León, an amount triple the figure previously cited by the federal government.
“The plant that we announced in March – erase it from the map. It looks like it will be twice as big,” García said. “Tesla and its suppliers are going to generate US $15 billion of investment in two years.”
The governor, who met with Musk in Monterrey prior to the gigafactory announcement, said Sept. 18 that the state permits Tesla needs to build the plant had been issued, but acknowledged that the company hadn’t yet obtained some federal ones.
Forbes México reported in early September that Tesla had not obtained any of the permits it needs to build and operate its proposed EV gigafactory in Santa Catarina.
The plant is expected to take 36 months to build, according to a Tesla document seen by Forbes, meaning that the earliest it could be finished – if the company obtains the required permits in the final months of this year – is late 2026.
With reports from Milenio, La Jornada and El Economista
