Elon Musk Pitches For India After Meeting PM Modi In New York
Twitter boss Elon Musk on Wednesday declared himself ‘incredibly excited about the future of India’ and that it had more to offer the world than any other large country.
Musk’s praise came after what he said was an ‘excellent’ meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi in New York this morning, after which he underlined the PM ‘really cares about India’ and that he had spoken passionately about electric car maker Tesla, Inc. investing in the country.
For his part Modi – who met Musk for the first time since he bought out Twitter in a headline-grabbing $44 billion deal last year – tweeted, “Great meeting you today Elon Musk! We had multifaceted conversations on issues ranging from energy to spirituality.”
To this, Musk replied, “It was an honour to meet again.”
“I am incredibly excited about the future of India. It has more promise than any other large country in the world and the PM really cares about India… because he is pursuing us to make a significant investment… which is something we need to do. In a nutshell, it was a fantastic meeting with the prime minister. I am a fan of PM Modi,” Musk told reporters after the meet.
“He wants to be open… he wants to be supportive of new companies and make sure it accrues to India’s advantage. Which, obviously, that’s the job,” the billionaire investor added.
Musk, though reluctant to confirm, said there will likely be further investment in India.
“We do not want to jump the gun on an announcement but I think it is quite likely that it will be a significant investment in our (Tesla’s) relationship with India,” he said.
On plans to set up a Tesla manufacturing base in India, Musk said, “I am confident Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible.”
Meanwhile, while nothing has been said yet, speculation suggests Musk might also be looking at putting some of his chips in solar energy in India after calling the country ‘great’ for such investment.
Modi, who is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, is meeting over two dozen thought leaders from various walks of life, including Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians and health sector experts.