For the past few days, Surat—popularly known as India’s Diamond City—has been abuzz with excitement over the presence of a Tesla Cybertruck on its roads. The futuristic vehicle is reportedly owned by local millionaire and philanthropist Lavji Daliya, popularly known as Lavji Badshah.
Claimed to be the first Tesla Cybertruck in India under the exclusive Foundation Series, the vehicle has drawn significant public attention. Daliya, a prominent real estate developer and the promoter of the Gopin Group, is well-known in Surat not only for his business ventures but also for his charitable contributions
Daliya’s eldest son Piyush said,”This cybertruck is the only one in India, as per what we checked online. There is no such car imported to India. We booked this car six months ago at the Tesla Showroom at Texas in the US. After all due process, we got the delivery a few days ago, so we brought the car to Dubai where road registration was done. Finally, the car reached India through the sea route.” The car, manufactured by Elon Musk’s Tesla, arrived in Surat on Thursday. The base price of a Cybertruck is $70,000 or about Rs 60 lakh.
To personalise the vehicle, the Daliyas have emblazoned their business group’s name ‘Gopin’ on it.
Without revealing how much the car cost him, Piyush said: “The logistics charges were huge. The car has seating capacity of five people and after the car landed in Surat, I drove it carrying my parents and my younger brother. It was an awesome experience to drive such a car and we are hopeful that the company would open its showroom in India. The vehicle is in major demand among the car lovers of India.”
Piyush further said: “It takes six hours of electric charging and on a single charge, the car can run up to 550 kilometres. We are using Dubai RTO registration in India. The car is fully automatic with all the latest features and some innovative features that are not found in other imported cars. This car is in high demand among customers worldwide. The trunk capacity in the car is also huge.”
It takes six hours of electric charging and on a single charge, the car can run up to 550 kilometres. (Express Photo)
The 55-year-old Lavjibhai ‘Badshah’, who is originally from Bhavnagar, migrated to Surat to start as a diamond businessman. He said: “At present, we are using this car in Surat and we have not made any journey on the highways or other districts. In the city, wherever we go, around 50 to 100 people gather on the spot to see the car. People are curious to know about the interiors and other aspects of the car. We have to take extra care. The entire body of the car is made of stainless steel, which has sharp curves, and the tyres are designed in such a way that the car can also run on rough paths.”
A large number of people, including relatives and acquaintances of the Daliyas family, have started arriving at their homes and offices with their children to see the car since Thursday, after videos went viral on social media.