California based electric automaker Tesla has picked Austin, Texas capital, for 1.1 billion assembly plant that is expected to provide employment to around 5,000 people.
This will be one of the largest economic development projects in Austin’s history.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the company's earnings call on Wednesday that its next Gigafactory would be located near Austin, Texas.
“The location is five minutes from Austin International National Airport and 15 minutes from Downtown Austin. It’s about 2,000 acres,” Musk said during the call.
“And we're going to make, I think, a factory that it's going to be stunning. It's right on the Colorado River. So we're actually going to have, we're going to have a boardwalk where there'll be a hiking, biking trail. It's going to basically be an ecological paradise – birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream. And it will be open to the public as well,” he said.
Initial work on the facility began this past weekend, Musk said.
This will be the company’s fourth vehicle-assembly factory worldwide and second in the US, with its Fremont, California factory, Shanghai Gigafactory and forthcoming Berlin factory comprising the other three.
The Tesla Cybertruck, Tesla Semi and Model 3 and Y for the eastern half of North America will be manufactured at the Texas Gigafactory, Musk said.
Both the Tesla Cybertruck and Semi are still being developed.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott heralded the announcement in a written statement Wednesday, calling Tesla “one of the most exciting and innovative companies in the world.”
The planned factory “will keep the Texas economy the strongest in the nation and will create thousands of jobs for hard-working Texans,” Abbott said.
“I look forward to the tremendous benefits that Tesla’s investment will bring to Central Texas and to the entire state.”
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) president Tarush Anand and its Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia joined governor Abbot in welcoming Tesla to Texas.
"This will boost the economy and open doors for jobs lost because of the pandemic", they said.
In Austin, Tesla will join large high-tech companies that began to flock to the area in the 1970s led by Dell, IBM, and 3M.
As companies continued to pour in over recent decades, the city has experienced high population growth.
A business-friendly climate with no state income tax for residents and a wealth of educated workers have made it a fitting home for hundreds of companies, both tech imports and home-grown enterprises alike.