‘Looking forward’: Elon Musk confirms upcoming meeting with PM Narendra Modi

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and one of world's wealthiest persons, is all set to land in India later this month and the big highlight of his visit would be his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The maverick - and eccentric - businessman took to X, which he owns as well, to confirm the upcoming meeting.

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

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2024

Musk has met PM Modi twice in years gone by but his next meeting with the leader of the world's biggest democracy would be his first in India. Tesla is more than likely to be big on the list of talking points as the company looks to enter the Indian market and establish a foothold in the nascent but fast-expanding electric vehicle (EV) game here. Tesla is the global leader among EV brands but has thus far been away from India, the world's third-largest vehicle market in terms of sales.

While Tesla representatives and officials in India have been in talks for several years, it is only now that concrete steps have started taking shape. Earlier this year - in March, the Indian government announced a change in its EV policy, reducing import duty on EVs provided companies make certain assurances and commit to local manufacturing within three years.

So what is Tesla likely to promise? Multiple agencies report that an investment of an estimated $3 billion is what Musk will officially announce during the course of his India visit. It is learnt that Tesla officials have already begun hunting for a manufacturing site in the country and are being lured by several state governments here. It is also reported that Tesla has started manufacturing right-hand-drive EVs at its German plant for import into India.

While Tesla will rely on the import route for an India presence in the initial years, it is expected to begin local manufacturing through its planned facility once it is built and is operational. For this, the company is reportedly in talks with Reliance Industries although none of the two companies have confirmed this yet.

What to expect from Tesla in India?

Model 3 will be the Tesla EV to watch out for and it is more than likely that this is what the company will bring to India initially. The Tesla Model 3 is the most-affordable EV from the company anywhere in the world - priced starting at around $39,000 (approximately ₹32.50 lakh) in the US.

There have been speculations in the past that Tesla would be working on an entirely new EV model that would be even more affordable at somewhere around the $25,000 mark (approximately ₹21 lakh) but it has recently been learnt that the company has dropped the idea in favour of concentrating efforts on robo taxis.

But what is nearly certain is that Tesla would want to fast-track its work on an India facility which would not just serve the Indian market but could be a base for exports to many markets in South-East Asia as well. With global EV sales getting lukewarm, emerging markets like India and those in South-East Asia could provide a massive shot to Tesla in the arm in the times to come. In return, a Tesla facility is expected to generate a huge number of jobs and has the potential to put the country firmly on the global EV map, possibly fast-tracking EV adoption here.