Tesla chief Elon Musk will visit India this month to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is expected to make an announcement related to his investment plans in the country.
Confirming his visit, the billionaire executive took to social media platform X and said he was looking forward to meet PM Modi.
Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister @NarendraModi in India!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2024
On his visit, Musk is expected to make an announcement related to his plans to invest and open a new factory in the country, according to a report by Reuters.
The billionaire will meet Modi in the week of April 22 in New Delhi, and will separately make an announcement about his India plans, said two sources, as quoted by the report.
The Tesla CEO will be accompanied by other executives during his visit.
Musk and Modi last met in New York in June, and Tesla for months lobbied India to lower import taxes on electric vehicles while it weighed up a factory there. India last month unveiled a new EV policy lowering import taxes to 15% from 100% on some models if a manufacturer invests at least $500 million and sets up a factory too.
Musk said this week on X that “India should have electric cars like every other country has electric cars. It’s a natural progression to provide Tesla electric vehicles in India”.
Tesla’s push into India comes as slowing EV demand in its main US and Chinese markets coincides with intensifying competition from Chinese automakers. Tesla reported a drop in first-quarter deliveries that missed analyst estimates.
India’s EV market is small but growing and dominated by local carmaker Tata Motors. EVs made up just 2% of total car sales in 2023. The government is targeting 30% by 2030.
(With Inputs from Reuters)
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