By Aditi Shah

MUMBAI, July 15 (Reuters) - Tech entrepreneur Elon

Musk's Tesla is selling its Model Y cars in India

starting at about $69,770, its website showed on Tuesday, as the

electric car maker prepared to open its first showroom in the

financial capital of Mumbai.

India is the world's third largest car market, although

electric vehicles comprise a very small slice, as concerns about

easy accessibility of charging infrastructure deter many

affluent buyers from going electric.

As Tesla gears up for busy roads still ruled by cars fuelled

by diesel and petrol, it will go head-to-head primarily with

German luxury giants like BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the

premium EV segment.

Among India's mass-market players are Tata Motors

and Mahindra.

Police guarded the showroom, with the brand's name etched in

black against a stark white wall, where the car, draped in black

and grey covers was partially visible on Tuesday through the

glass in a gated office complex.

With access tightly controlled, few onlookers or fans

lingered near the premises.

Musk has long eyed an entry in India, the world's most

populous country and where the rich are splurging on everything

from apartments to watches and jewellery, even bathrooms.

India aims to boost the share of EVs in domestic car sales

to 30% by 2030, from 4% now, offering tax cuts to foreign

automakers committing to some domestic production.

That proved to have limited appeal to Musk, although the

efforts were partly designed to lure Tesla.

Tesla's opening coincides with a pre-booking campaign in

India launched by Vinfast for its electric sports

utility vehicles VF7 and VF6.

Tesla is selling the Model Y rear-wheel drive for 6 million

rupees ($70,000) in cash, and its Model Y long-range rear-wheel

drive at 6.8 million ($79,000).

The U.S. selling price starts from $44,990, while in China

it is 263,500 yuan ($36,700) and in Germany 45,970 euros

($53,700).

($1=86.0020 rupees)

($1=7.1736 Chinese yuan renminbi)

($1=0.8564 euros)