Tech billionaire Elon Musk will visit India as his businesses seek new markets in the world’s most populous country, and electric carmaker Tesla is reportedly looking for a factory site in the United States , the company’s sales in the United States fell.
Satellite internet operator Starlink, another company owned by Musk, will receive preliminary approval to operate in India, a government source told AFP.
The self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”‘s agenda may also include a raft of content removal orders from the Indian government on X, the social media platform he took over in 2022.
“Looking forward to meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi!” Musk wrote on X last week, without giving a date for the visit.
Indian media reported that the visit could begin as early as Sunday and last two days, following months of active courtship between the billionaire and Modi.
The two met in New York last June, after which Musk said Modi urged the entrepreneur to “make significant investments in India” – something he said his company intended to do.
Tesla is currently facing challenges from increasing competition in China and declining demand in the United States, with reports that the company plans to lay off employees.
Musk, a self-proclaimed Modi fan, also said that India “has more hope than any major country in the world.”
But India has often struggled to attract foreign direct investment, even as multinationals seek alternatives to China and Musk’s admiration has yet to translate into billions of dollars in commitments.
India’s high import taxes on electric vehicles – which Musk has complained are “the highest in the world” – and the lack of local manufacturing have prevented Tesla from entering the Indian market.
In 2021, the Ministry of Communications issued a rare public rebuke of Starlink, claiming that the company began “pre-selling” its services in India without an operating license.
– Red carpet –
This year, however, the government has relaxed regulations in the hope of attracting more foreign investment ahead of six weeks of national elections starting on Friday.
Last month, China lowered import taxes on electric vehicles for global automakers, which have pledged to invest $500 million over three years and start local production.
The new policy allows companies to import up to 8,000 electric vehicles per year priced at US$35,000 or more, with import tariffs significantly reduced by 15%.
The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Tesla would send a team to at least three states to find sites for its factories.
Indian media reported that Tesla will first consider importing cars from the Berlin factory before making a final decision on where to set up the production line.
Experts say the Indian market is unlikely to be an immediate shot in the arm for the company, mainly because of the high price tag of its cars.
Tesla’s current cheapest model is the Model 3 sedan, which retails for about $39,000 in the United States.
“The price exceeds $2 million rupees ($23,900) represents only 5% market share in India,” Soumen Mandal, senior analyst at market research firm Counterpoint, told AFP.
However, he added that Tesla will seek to position itself for an inflection point where demand will increase as disposable income rises and the cost of producing electric vehicles falls.
Counterpoint expects electric vehicles to account for nearly 30% of all car sales by 2030, up from 2% last year.
– Post Battle –
Musk’s current business interests in India are limited to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) he inherited.
Before taking ownership, he is continuing a legal battle challenging takedown orders requiring the removal of tweets and accounts critical of Modi’s government.
Press freedom in India has declined sharply since Modi took office a decade ago, with more requests to remove content than from almost any other country.
Former X boss Jack Dorsey claimed last year that Indian government officials threatened to shut down the platform unless it met their demands – Information Technology Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said This statement is a “complete lie”.
Under new ownership, X is appealing a court decision last year that required the platform to comply with government takedown requests.
But Musk is optimistic about the constraints the company faces in India.
“India has very strict rules on what appears on social media and we cannot go beyond the law,” he told the BBC last year.
“If we have the choice to either put our people in jail or we obey the law, we will obey the law.”
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