Musk to invest $3 bn in India

New Delhi: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is scheduled to visit India next week, is likely to announce an investment worth $2-$3 billion, according to reports citing the sources familiar with the development.

Musk is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, following which the company's entry into India will be announced, as reported earlier. However, details of the billionaire CEO's New Delhi visit have been kept confidential, with the Tesla CEO only publicly confirming on X that he will meet PM Modi in India during his visit.

According to the report, Musk is expected to announce the investment figure for India without sharing details such as a timeline or the state where the manufacturing plant or the factory would be built.

However, Tesla has already started scouting for showroom space in metropolitan cities, including New Delhi and Mumbai, and its Berlin factory is producing right-hand drive cars it aims to export to India starting later this year, Reuters reported earlier.

The SpaceX CEO is also reported to meet the Indian space companies including Skyroot Aerospace, Agnikul Cosmos, Bellatrix Aerospace and Dhruva Space, reports say citing requests received by the firms from the government to meet the tech giant in New Delhi during his visit. Musk could also announce Starlink services, which set up a wholly-owned unit in India in 2021 but has been waiting for government approvals to launch its services.

India is the world’s third-largest auto market, but the electric car adoption rate is still in its infancy. EVs made up just 2% of total car sales in 2023, but the Centre is targeting 30% of new cars to be EVs starting in 2030.