It took us too long to get to India. We will be here until they want us,” said Formula E co-founder Alberto Longo, making his intentions clear 100 days before the inaugural race in Hyderabad on February 11.
A Formula E round and a scheduled Moto GP race in Greater Noida next year are expected to provide a much needed boost to Indian motorsport with the last major racing event in the country -- Formula 1 -- taking place way back in 2013.
Formula 1 left India because of tax and financial issues but Longo and local promoter Anil Kumar C said preparations are very much on track for Formula E's debut in India.
Hyderbad ePrix will be the third round of the FIA sanctioned World Championship with fully electric single seaters cars vrooming along the Hussain Sagar Lake at a top speed of 320 kmph.
The season opener will be held in Mexico with the championship travelling to major cities of the world, including New York and London.
The 2.37 km long street circuit in the heart of Hyderabad will be tested in two weeks' time in the build up to the Formula E race. A round of Indian Racing League is scheduled there from November 19-20.
Renewable energy major Greenko and Telangana government are local promoters of the race.
“We race in the biggest cities of the world and India was a tier 1 market for us from the very beginning. We have been trying to race since season one (2014) and then we met KTR (Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao) who has the vision of electric mobility that we have.
“Mahindra Racing introduced us to him and it was love at first sight. We took too long to get here but if things go well, we will be here until they want us,” said Longo.
Mahindra Racing, who have been with the championship since day one, are among the seven manufacturers present in the series including Porsche, Nissan, Tata owned Jaguar, Maserati and McLaren.
“All of our seven manufacturers wanted to come to India, come to China and US but India was a pending country and we are here. We have an Indian DNA in Formula E,” he said in a reference to Mahindra and Tata owned Jaguar.
The race is expected to make an economic impact of USD 150 million and Longo said there will be challenges that all stakeholders will have to overcome.