Elon Musk Confirms India Visit, Says Looking Forward To Meeting PM Modi

Tesla founder Elon Musk on Wednesday confirmed that he would be visiting India later this month and meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to sources, he is likely to announce the company’s investment plans in the country.

Taking to X, the billionaire executive said he was looking forward to meeting PM Modi.

Reuters has previously reported that Tesla officials are expected to visit India this month to look at sites for a manufacturing plant that would require an investment of about $2 billion.

Musk, who has described as a ‘natural progression’ to provide Tesla electric vehicles in India, is likely to be accompanied by other company executives during the visit expected around April 22, a source said.

An e-mail query sent to Tesla to confirm Musk’s visit remained unanswered. In June last year, Musk met with Modi during the latter’s US visit and stated that he planned to visit India in 2024 while expressing confidence that Tesla would enter the Indian market soon.

Musk’s visit to India comes weeks after the government announced a new electric vehicle policy under which import duty concessions will be given to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of USD 500 million, a move aimed at attracting major global players like Tesla. As per the policy, the companies that would set up manufacturing facilities for EV passenger cars will be allowed to import a limited number of cars at lower customs /import duty of 15 per cent on vehicles costing USD 35,000 and above for a period of five years from the date of issuance of the approval letter by the government.

At present, cars imported as completely built units (CBUs) attract customs duty ranging from 70 per cent to 100 per cent, depending on engine size and cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value less or above USD 40,000. The policy seeks to promote India as a manufacturing destination for EVs and attract investment from reputed global EV manufacturers.

Last year, Tesla approached the Indian government seeking duty cuts to import its vehicles in India. Previously in 2022, Musk had said that Tesla, which was earlier seeking a reduction in import duties to sell its vehicles in India, would not manufacture its products unless it is allowed to first sell and service its cars in the country.

In August 2021, Musk said that Tesla may set up a manufacturing unit in India if it first succeeds with imported vehicles in the country. He had said Tesla wanted to launch its vehicles in India “but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country!”

(With PTI inputs)