Elon Musk reveals why he postponed India visit: 'Very heavy...'

Elon Musk was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his trip to India.

Updated on: Apr 20, 2024, 11:29:29 IST

By HT News Desk

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Elon Musk, Tesla chief and one of the world's richest people, has postponed his much-awaited trip to India. The SpaceX founder and CEO was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi during his visit. The billionaire blamed “very heavy Tesla obligations” for his decision.

Elon Musk gestures as he attends a political festival in Italy. (Reuters file photo)

"Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year," Elon Musk wrote on X.

Last week, Elon Musk, who also owns X (formerly Twitter), confirmed his meeting with PM Modi in India.

"Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India," he wrote on X.

Elon Musk was expected to announce an investment of 2-3 billion dollars, to build a factory in India.

Elon Musk had met PM Modi during the latter's visit to the United States in June last year. The Tesla chief had discussed PM Modi, his plans to visit India in 2024 and Tesla's plan to enter the Indian market and setting up the much-anticipated factory.

The announcement of Elon Musk's visit to India had come months after the central government announced a new electric vehicle policy, which offered import duty concessions to those setting up manufacturing units in India with a minimum investment of 500 million dollars.

It was expected that the Tesla founder's visit would also provide a fillip to his other ambitious project in India – Starlink. Bloomberg had quoted "people familiar with the matter" as saying that Starlink had received assurances from the central government that it would be able to start operating in the country as soon as the third quarter of this year.

Experts have claimed that the operations of Starlink in India would mark a further deepening of the security partnership between India and the US.

In February, India, easing foreign direct investment rules for the space sector, allowed companies to invest in manufacturers of satellites and rockets.

With inputs from Reuters, Bloomberg

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