Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men and the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of electric car maker Tesla, announced his visit to India on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter). He will go on this trip mainly to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Musk, however, did not specify the date of this visit. But he is expected to announce major investment plans in India.
On Wednesday (April 10), Mask X wrote in a post, “Looking forward to meeting the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi!”
India’s central government last month reduced import duties on electric vehicles (EVs) for global automakers. Only those who want to invest at least 500 million or USD 500 million and commit to start production of cars in a factory set up in India within three years, will get this opportunity of tax exemption. Earlier in 2021, Tesla boss Elon Musk had said that India’s high import tariffs were hampering his company’s Tesla electric vehicle rollout in the world’s fastest growing economy.
Elon Musk is not only the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla, but also the chief technology officer (CTO) and defense contractor of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (commonly known as SpaceX), a spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider and satellite communications company.
Elon Musk is on the third place in the list of global billionaires or centenarians of 2024 published by the world-famous Forbes magazine of the United States. According to Forbes, his net worth is $19,200 million. On the other hand, Elon Musk has fallen in Bloomberg’s billionaire index. Mark Zuckerberg has become the third richest person in the world after him. Earlier last month, Tesla founder Elon Musk topped the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Meanwhile, a senior Indian government official told the international media BBC that the meeting between Modi and Musk is scheduled to take place in the last week of this month and will be held at Modi’s official residence in the capital, New Delhi.
According to BBC, the Modi-Musk meeting will mainly discuss Tesla company’s plan to start production of electric cars in India. There was no immediate comment from Tesla when contacted by the BBC.
Elon Musk is visiting India in the context of Lok Sabha elections. Voting for the six-week long Lok Sabha elections in India will begin on April 19. Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking a third term in power. As a result, Tesla’s investment announcement during the election is expected to further strengthen Narendra Modi’s pro-business initiatives. He has been urging various foreign companies to start manufacturing operations in India and create employment.
Earlier in June last year, Elon Musk met Narendra Modi in New York, USA. At that time, Musk, a multi-billionaire billionaire in the global technology sector, said, “Modi has urged us to invest significantly in India, which we also want to do.”
However, Tesla’s move to manufacture electric cars in India comes at a time when the company’s car sales in the US and China are declining. A fire at Tesla’s European factory, disruptions to global shipping and increased competition have reduced its car supply in the first three months of this year. Tesla has repeatedly reduced the price of its electric cars, particularly in the face of fierce competition from companies such as Chinese company BWDI. Their car sales have fallen by a third this year.
Indian market is very promising. The country emerged as the world’s fifth-largest economy in 2022, surpassing the United States, whose gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.4 percent in the December 2023 quarter.
