Elon Musk Confident of Tesla's Entry into India Following Modi Meeting

Tesla CEO Elon Musk held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Indian leader's momentous visit to the United States. Musk, in subsequent remarks to reporters, expressed his confidence in Tesla's forthcoming presence in India.

"I'm a fan of Modi. It was a fantastic meeting with the Prime Minister and I like him quite a lot. He visited our factory a few years ago. So, we have known each other for a while. I am incredibly excited about the future of India. I think India has more promise than any large country in the world," said the world's richest man.

"I am confident Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible. PM Modi really cares about India because he is pushing us to make significant investment in India, which is something that we tend to do. We just have to figure out the right timing. He really wants to do the right thing for India. He wants to be open, he wants to be supportive to the companies. And obviously, at the same time, make sure that it accrues to India's advantage," Musk proclaimed.

Many observers had anticipated that Modi would exert pressure on Musk to commit to local manufacturing in India. While no concrete announcements have been made, Musk alludes to this possibility.

In 2015, when Modi visited Tesla's Fremont manufacturing facility, Elon Musk announced that the Model 3, which remains its most affordable offering to date, would be launched in India. Over the years, Tesla established an Indian entity and recruited high-profile executives, only to later transfer them to other markets. This was due to the Indian government's unwillingness to accommodate Musk's demand for the removal of taxation on imported electric cars, particularly those from Tesla's China gigafactory.

However, this expectation was unrealistic given India's strained relationship with China in recent times, resulting in anti-Chinese sentiment. The government has tightened regulations on Chinese operations and made it challenging for anyone to import goods from China.

Even MG Motors, owned by China-based SAIC group, has announced plans to gradually transfer majority ownership of its Indian operations to Indian entities within the next five years. Similarly, Paytm has seen a divestment of Alibaba's investment.

Thus, Musk faces a challenging situation. Nevertheless, earlier this year, he unveiled another phase of Tesla's master plan, which includes the development of a budget electric car priced below $25,000, targeting markets in Southern Asia, including India.

In his capacity as the owner of Twitter, Musk also shared some of his thoughts on the social media platform, even responding to PM Modi.

"Great meeting you today @elonmusk! We had multifaceted conversations on issues ranging from energy to spirituality," said the Prime Minister. To this, Musk replied, "It was an honour to meet again."