BERLIN, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Tesla has withdrawn its application for state funding for its planned battery plant in Brandenburg, just outside Berlin, a spokesperson for the economy ministry said on Friday.

"Tesla continues to stick to its plans for the battery factory in the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, but will do without state IPCEI funding," the spokesperson said, referring to European subsidies allocated to so-called 'Important Projects of Common European Interest'.

The European Union in January approved a plan that included giving state aid to Tesla, BMW and others to support production of electric vehicle batteries and help the bloc to reduce imports from industry leader China.

Tesla was expected to receive 1.14 billion euros https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/german-decision-tesla-subsidies-expected-by-end-year-2021-09-05 ($1.28 billion) in EU funding under the plan, with a final decision likely by the end of the year.

Construction at the factory site, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he hoped could start producing cars by the end of this year, has made good progress in the last few weeks, the spokesperson said. ($1 = 0.8876 euros) (Reporting by Christian Kraemer, Victoria Waldersee, editing by Thomas Escritt)