Indian Tesla fans rejoice as Elon Musk has announced his visit to the country in the context of meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier this month, we reported about Tesla’s potential visit to India to scout a location to set up a factory. Further, the company started producing right-hand drive cars for the subcontinent’s roads in its Berlin factory. Now, Musk’s confirmation of his meeting with Modi is a promising development for EV enthusiasts in India, especially since it signals progress for Tesla’s anticipated foray into the market.
Elon Musk Shares Plans To Meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Through a post on X (previously known as Twitter), Musk confirmed his plans to “meeting with Prime Minister @NarendraModi in India!” The post was published at 11:14 PM IST on April 10, 2024, and in about 12 hours, it got over 40M views. The confirmation is of utmost importance for the Indian economy, especially since it comes at a time when reports speculate Tesla’s potential investment in the country for establishing a new factory that could not only make cars for the country but also for exporting to other regions.
Tesla CEO To Be Accompanied By Other Executives
The Tesla CEO is expected to arrive with a couple of senior executives to discuss and finalize the company’s foray into the country. According to a report by Business Today, the meeting will take place late in April, in the final week before the onset of the Indian General Elections 2024. If everything goes well, Tesla could invest about $3 billion (roughly Rs. 24,000 crore) to establish its first factory in the subcontinent and bring in another $10 billion (roughly Rs. 80,000 crore) in terms of commitment from its partners.
Tesla’s Foray Could Bring In The Biggest Foreign Direct Investment To India
If the deal goes through and the company gets a green signal from the government, this could be the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. It is important to mention that talks about Tesla’s entry into the country gained momentum after the government announced a new EV policy for offering import duty concessions for companies investing at least $500 million in local manufacturing. While the EV policy provides a rebate of 15 percent on the import duty for the first five years, the number of units a company can bring into the country is capped at 8,000 per year.
With reports about the company’s intentions to invest in the country, such as Musk announcing his arrival via his official X account, it looks like India will finally get its own Tesla manufacturing unit. This, in turn, will help the company sell its models at a lower price than what they would cost if imported. In a recent conversation on X with Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, Musk affirmed that being the most populous country in the world, India should have electric cars just like every other country. “It’s a natural progression to provide Tesla electric vehicles in India,” the Tesla CEO stated.
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