Elon Musk starts following PM Narendra Modi on Twitter, sparks speculation of Tesla coming to India

Elon Musk, the inventor of Tesla and SpaceX, caused a flurry of speculation on Twitter on Monday when he started following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the platform. Based on this action, people started speculating that Musk might be planning to set up a Tesla factory in India, or perhaps join the Indian EV market.

This is not the first time that speculations of Tesla either entering the Indian EV market or Tesla setting up a production line in India has been making the rounds. A few years ago, Elon Musk was keen on entering the Indian EV market but wanted some major tax breaks. 

At that point, the PM Modi-led Indian government refused to give concessions on import taxes and duties that Tesla would incur on procuring parts for an almost completely built Tesla EV from China. 

Brand Modi on Twitter
PM Modi is one of the most popular politicians on the network, with over 87.7 million followers. Moreover, he is also one of the most active heads of state on the platform and has a platform that engages a wide variety of people, across ages and demographics.

Musk, who purchased Twitter in October 2022, is the social media network’s most followed individual. The billionaire has around 134.4 million Twitter followers, representing a large chunk of the social media platform’s 450 million active users. The businessman only monitors 193 accounts.

Last year, Tesla was lured to India by New Delhi, where the national transport minister, Nitin Gadkari, told media in May 2022 that the business might enjoy benefits if it began producing electric vehicles there.

“Come to India, start manufacturing; India is a large market; they can export from India,” remarked the minister at the time. He also predicted that electric automobiles in India will soon be less expensive than petrol-powered vehicles.

Musk’s issues that prevented him from setting up shop in India
However, Musk was adamant that he would first test the Indian market by offering Tesla’s cars at a premium and having a service network – only then would he think of setting up a factory in a country. India back then refused to entertain his demands.

Tesla has long sought reduced Indian import tariffs on electric vehicles, pressing New Delhi to drop tariff rates on high-end automobiles to 40% instead — but the nation has refused to provide the tax discounts, instead encouraging the automaker to produce vehicles locally.

In June, Indian Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey stated that his country was not willing to “compromise” on its self-reliance policy, and that Tesla would have to follow the laws if it wanted to visit India.

“Tesla and Elon Musk are welcome in India, but only according to the policies of the country,” Pandey stated at the time. It’s unclear what has changed since then.

Tesla’s Chinese dream turns into a nightmare
Instead of setting up a plant in India, Tesla chose to set up one of its biggest factories outside the US, in China. However, this move soon turned out to be disastrous. Instead of going ahead with its plans to expand its Chinese factories, Tesla has had to reduce the its production capacities in the country as it faces some major competition from Chinese, Singaporean and Malaysian EV brands in China.

As a result, Tesla has had to offer massive discounts in China to stay competitive, with discounts going as high as 55 per cent. 

The CCP’s handling of Covid has also not made things easy for Tesla. Because of the numerous lockdowns and supply chain issues, Musk had to reduce Tesla’s estimated output from its Shanghai-based Gigafactory significantly.

Musk’s tryst with Make In India
Like Apple a number of tech companies are looking to set up shop in India. Apple has bet big on India, for both, its manufacturing requirements as well as a potential sales region, and it is already seeing results.

In a similar manner, people are speculating, that if Musk brings Tesla to India, it will find the conditions in the country more conducive and enticing than it does in China

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