Tesla chief Elon Musk has postponed his two-day visit to India later this month wherein he was reportedly scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The entrepreneur was also likely to announce an investment of two-three billion dollars during the visit. He is now likely to India later this year.
In a post on Saturday, Musk said his visit to India was delayed due to “very heavy Tesla obligations.” He also said “Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year," the SpaceX CEO tweeted. His visit was reportedly to commence from Sunday.
Musk has to reportedly attend a crucial conference call on April 23 in the United States to answer questions about Tesla's first quarter performance. Last week, Musk posted on X that he was "looking forward" to meeting Prime Minister Modi.
Musk, who also owns SpaceX, was expected to announce an investment of $2-3 billion to build a factory for entry-level cars amid the long-awaited Tesla Inc's entry into the Indian market. Recently, the government announced a policy lowering high tariffs on imported cars if firms invest locally.
The billionaire entrepreneur was also expected to unveil plans to introduce Starlink, a satellite network that provides high-speed internet connection.
Musk, the world's fourth-richest man, was also expected to meet Indian space tech start-ups during his visit.
The government had reportedly invited companies like Skyroot Aerospace, Dhruva Space, Piersight, and Digantara for talks with the SpaceX CEO in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Modi has met Elon Musk twice before -- during a Tesla plant visit in 2015 and during his state visit to the US in 2023.
In a recent interview, Modi said Musk was a supporter of India. "Look, the first thing saying that Elon Musk is a supporter of Modi is one thing, basically, he is a supporter of India. And I just met him. It's not like that," Modi had said.
The development also comes just days after the Centre held its first set of consultation meetings with automobile industry players, including Tesla representatives, to evolve guidelines to operationalise the new Electric Vehicle (EV) policy released last month. The guidelines are expected to provide more clarity on investments in EV manufacturing in the country, which is at a nascent stage in the country.
The Congress took a swipe at the Narendra Modi government over the postponement of Elon Musk's India visit, saying it was odd the Tesla CEO was coming to meet an outgoing prime minister and that he too has now read the "writing on the wall".
