Musk meets PM Modi; says Tesla looking at ‘significant investment’ in India

Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk on Tuesday said that the electric carmaker will be in India “as soon as humanly possible”.

His comments followed a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a state visit to the US. 

The Prime Minister appreciated Musk’s efforts at making technology accessible and affordable in various sectors. He invited Musk to explore opportunities in India for investments in electric mobility and commercial space sector.  

“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. 

Great meeting you today @elonmusk! We had multifaceted conversations on issues ranging from energy to spirituality. https://t.co/r0mzwNbTyN pic.twitter.com/IVwOy5SlMV

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 21, 2023

Modi’s meeting with Musk, who also owns Twitter, came days after Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey accused India of threatening to shut down the platform for not complying with its orders to take down content from the website. 
Dorsey's allegations, made in an interview, however, were strongly denied by the Indian government, calling it an “outright lie”.  

Musk too said on Monday, "Twitter does not have a choice but to obey local governments. If we don't obey local government laws, we will get shut down...” 

Post the meeting with the PM, Musk also called himself a “fan of Mr Modi” and said that India had "more promise than any large country in the world". 

"He [Mr Modi] really cares about India because he's pushing us to make significant investments in India, which is something we intend to do. We are just trying to figure out the right timing," he said, adding that "I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible." 

The Prime Minister earlier met Musk in 2015 during a visit to Tesla Motors factory in California. 

Tesla has been in talks with Indian bureaucrats and ministers as it looks to enter the domestic market. Executives of Tesla visited India and held talks with Indian bureaucrats and ministers last month on establishing a manufacturing base for cars and batteries in India. 

According to a Reuters report last month, Tesla had proposed setting up a factory to build electric vehicles and was also looking at manufacturing EV batteries in the country. "They are very seriously looking at India as a production and innovation base," federal minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar had told the agency in May.

Musk also said then that Tesla would probably pick a location for a new factory by the end of this year, adding India was an interesting place for a new plant. 

US companies need to reduce reliance on China as a manufacturing base in the face of tensions between Washington and Beijing, he said.  

But the company's original plans to open base in India were thwarted last year after the Indian government insisted Tesla to make cars locally, while the carmaker said that it wanted to export to India first so that it could test demand. The plan finally got shelved due to high import tax structures. 

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

However, he clarified, “We do not want to jump the gun on an announcement but I think it is quite likely that it will be a significant investment in our relationship with India," he told news agencies. 

Modi arrived in New York on Tuesday for a three-day state visit to improve the bilateral relations between India and the US. He met nearly two dozen thought-leaders from various fields after he landed in New York on Tuesday night.