Elon Musk Delays India Trip and PM Modi Meeting, Reports Say

Elon Musk Delays India Trip and PM Modi Meeting, Reports Say

The CEO of Tesla and one of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk, has rescheduled his much-anticipated trip to India. The two-day visit by the CEO and founder of SpaceX was slated to include a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. After Reuters reported on the postponement and quoted three people acquainted with the situation, Tesla and PM Modi’s office remained silent. Elon Musk, who also controls X (previously Twitter), verified this week that he will be meeting with Prime Minister Modi in India.

“Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India,” he wrote in a post on X. Elon Musk was expected to announce an investment of $2–3 billion to start a manufacturing facility in India. Elon Musk met with PM Modi in June 2018 when he was visiting the US. The CEO of Tesla talked about PM Modi, his intended travel to India in 2024, and Tesla’s strategy to join the Indian market and establish the eagerly awaited factory.

Elon Musk’s visit to India was revealed a few months after the government of India unveiled a new policy pertaining to electric vehicles. Individuals who invested a minimum of $500 million to develop manufacturing units in India were eligible for import duty waivers under this policy. It was anticipated that the founder of Tesla would also use his visit to boost his other ambitious project, Starlink, which is being operated in India. According to “people familiar with the matter” cited by Bloomberg, Starlink has already gotten guarantees from the national government that it will be permitted to begin operations in the nation as early as this quarter’s third quarter.

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According to experts, Starlink’s operations in India will signal stronger security cooperation between the US and India. India relaxed its regulations on foreign direct investment in the space industry in February, enabling businesses to invest in enterprises that produce satellites and rockets.