Elon Musk to meet PM Modi in India this month

Elon Musk is visiting India this month and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Tesla boss posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, 11 April.

Musk, whose visit comes amid India’s general election, did not announce a date.

“Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India!” Musk said in his post.

Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister @NarendraModi in India!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2024

The meeting is scheduled for the last week of April and will take place at Modi’s residence, the BBC reported, citing an unidentified government official aware of the discussions.

The US electric automaker is planning to send a team to India to scout locations for a proposed EV plant, the Financial Times reported this month, citing two people aware of the Elon Musk-led company’s plans.

Following their last meeting in New York in June 2023, Musk had said that Modi was pushing his company to make significant investments in India, adding “that it was something his company was intending to do.”

The prime minister had then extended an invitation to Musk to explore the plethora of opportunities in India, especially in electric mobility and the rapidly expanding commercial space sector. Musk had then acknowledged the invitation and had said that he was tentatively planning to visit India this year.

Tesla is expected to announce significant investment plans in India soon

Last month, India announced a cut in import duties on electric vehicles (EV) for global carmakers that will invest $500 million and commence production in India within three years.

In 2021, Musk had said that high import duties in India prevented the electric car maker from launching its cars in India.

In January, Musk told analysts that Tesla’s electric vehicle segment faces significant challenges from Chinese EV makers.

Chinese EV vehicle makers BYD and Geely “will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world”, Musk said, as these companies ramp up their EV sales globally at a far lower price than what Tesla offered.

Telsa posted a quarterly decline in deliveries to 386,810 vehicles in March, down 9% from the 423,000 it delivered a year ago.

The company also faces competition from car rental company Hertz Global Holdings in the North American market and subsequent price cuts by Chinese EV makers in addition to rising labor costs.