Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the world’s wealthiest individual, has extended his apologies to India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, for not being present during the minister’s tour of the Tesla Fremont factory in California. Expressing his regret, Musk deemed it an honor to have Goyal visit the plant and conveyed optimism about a future meeting with the minister.
In response to Goyal’s post on X, Musk stated, “It was an honor to have you visit Tesla! My apologies for not being able to travel to California today, but I look forward to meeting at a future date.”
Minister Piyush Goyal commended India’s significant role in Tesla’s transformative journey, highlighting the pivotal contributions of Indian engineers and finance professionals holding senior positions within the company. Affirming his earlier remarks, Goyal emphasized that Tesla is on a trajectory to double its component imports from India.
The Union Minister is presently on a four-day visit to the United States, which commenced on November 13, to participate in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
Goyal’s visit comes amidst widespread speculation regarding the Indian government potentially granting tax concessions to Tesla for establishing an electric vehicle manufacturing facility in the country. Recent reports suggest that the Indian government is contemplating reducing the duty on electric vehicles to 15% universally; however, this policy is yet to receive official approval within the government.
According to the Financial Times, Tesla has formally requested an initial concession on the customs duty imposed on imported cars in India. Currently, completely built-up (CBU) vehicles priced below $40,000 face a 70% import duty, while those priced above $40,000 incur a 100% import duty.
As the discussions unfold, the potential establishment of a Tesla electric vehicle factory in India remains a subject of keen interest and speculation within the automotive and business communities.
