New Delhi, March 19 -- The "catfish effect", named after the practice of adding catfish to tanks of cod to keep them active during transportation, describes how a strong competitor can energize a stagnant market. Tesla's entry into India could be just the jolt the country's electric vehicle (EV) industry needs.

In business, the effect is clearly visible in the runaway success of Chinese electric vehicle companies barely six years after Tesla set up a wholly-owned Gigafactory in Shanghai with generous incentives from the government. Today, China produces more than 60% of the world's electric cars and 80% of the batteries that power them. What's more, in 2024 Chinese company BYD delivered 1.777 million EVs, ahead of Tesla's 1.774 million....