When Elon Met Modi: Tesla Coming To India, Says Musk

After a standoff between India and Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO has said the world’s most valuable carmaker is looking to enter the country via investments. 

At the event, Musk told the media, “I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible.”

“He [PM Modi] really cares about India because he’s pushing us to make significant investments in India, which is something we intend to do,” added Musk.

“Great meeting you today @elonmusk, We had multifaceted conversations on issues ranging from energy to spirituality,” wrote PM Narendra Modi on Twitter, who is on a visit to the United States and Egypt this week.

The two met in New York on the sidelines of an event at the United Nations headquarters. Per a source cited by Reuters, Musk has briefed Modi on the plans to set up a manufacturing base in India.

Musk further added, “I’m incredibly excited about the future of India. India has more promise than any large country in the world.” Musk also said he is ‘a fan’ of Modi and he intends to visit India next year.

India has strong potential for a sustainable energy future, including solar power, stationary battery packs and electric vehicles (EVs), Musk said, adding that he hopes to bring SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service to India as well.

India’s foreign ministry said PM Modi had invited the electric vehicle maker to explore investing in the country’s electric mobility and commercial space sectors.

The Tesla CEO’s statement comes a month after a delegation from the electric car maker landed in India and met key ministries, including the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

According to media reports, talks with Tesla representatives focussed on incentives the Indian government doles out for manufacturing EVs and batteries in India under the relevant production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, as India has made it clear that imports are not preferred.

Per MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, during the meeting with Tesla, India has signalled to the officials that the government will ‘certainly’ offer facilities to enable Tesla to achieve whatever ambitions it has about India.

However, even though the electric carmaker is keen to enter the Indian market, the third-largest automobile market in the world, India is said to be not too keen on making any special accommodations for Tesla in India. However, the states are free to do so.