The billionaire executive met Prime Minister Modi in the US last year. (document)

New Delhi:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed reports of plans to visit India, posting on X that he looked forward to meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the country.

“Looking forward to meeting Indian Prime Minister @NarendraModi!” Musk posted on the Weibo platform he also owns on Wednesday.

Looking forward to meeting the Prime Minister @narendramodi in India!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2024

However, the Tesla CEO did not disclose details on when the visit might take place.

Earlier in the day, Reuters reported that the billionaire will visit India later this month and is expected to announce his plans to invest in the country and open a new factory here.

Musk, who is also the founder of SpaceX, met Prime Minister Modi in the United States in June last year and called himself a “fan.” “I believe Tesla will come to India and will come to India as soon as possible,” the electric carmaker’s CEO said.

News of the billionaire’s visit comes less than a month after India announced a new electric vehicle policy that would reduce taxes by up to 85% on certain quantities of electric vehicle imports to “attract globally renowned manufacturing business investment”.

Under the policy, companies setting up passenger electric vehicle production facilities will be allowed to import a limited number of vehicles with a 15% reduction in customs duties or import taxes for vehicles priced at least $35,000 (approximately Rs 29 lakh). The term is five years.

It requires electric carmakers to invest at least 41.5 billion rupees ($500 million) and gives them three years to set up manufacturing plants in India. Another key requirement is to achieve 50% domestic value addition within a maximum of five years. The localization clause stipulates that 25% must be reached in the third year.