Tesla CEO Elon Musk may visit India ‘early next year’

Elon Musk wanted to bring Tesla to India as early as the summer of 2017 but stringent local sourcing norms derailed his plans.

Elon Musk wants to visit India in 2019 (AFP)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk may visit India soon.

Replying to a tweet from a user, the SpaceX Founder, said he is keen to be in India soon. "Probably early next year," Must replied to the user, who asked when does he plan to come to India.

Musk has shown interest in launching his Tesla electric vehicles in India. He has blamed the Indian regulations and policies for the delay in the roll-out. Tesla's entry to the Indian market is believed to play a pivotal role in helping the government achieve the target of selling only electric vehicles by 2030.

Musk wanted to bring Tesla to India as early as the summer of 2017 but stringent local sourcing norms derailed his plans.

"Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately," Musk tweeted in May. "Deepak Ahuja, our CFO, is from India. Tesla will be there as soon as he believes we should."

Ahuja, a seasoned auto industry finance executive with 15 years experience at Ford Motor Company, joined Tesla Motors as Chief Financial Officer in 2010.

Prob early next year

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2018

In 2017, Musk said Tesla's cars could come to India in the summer but there was no further news. Musk later blamed the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms for the delay in Tesla's entry into the Indian market.

"Maybe I'm misinformed, but I was told that 30 per cent of parts must be locally sourced and the supply does not yet exist in India to support that," he had tweeted.

The Make in India's Twitter handle replied back to Musk: "@elonmusk With respect to news reports on launch plans of Tesla in India being delayed, please note some key clarifications#MakeInIndia".

.@elonmusk With respect to news reports on launch plans of Tesla in India being delayed, please note some key clarifications#MakeInIndia pic.twitter.com/9RFICGM9Kk

— Make in India (@makeinindia) May 23, 2017

Tesla was expected to enter India with Model 3 that sells for nearly $35,000.

Bullish on his Chinese dream, Elon Musk on July 12 said he had excellent meetings with senior leaders and will aim to invest long-term in the country.

He signed a preliminary agreement with the Shanghai government to build a Tesla gigafactory in China that is expected to produce 500,000 electric vehicles per year -- doubling the production capacity of Tesla.

Musk had earlier said that China's progress in advanced infrastructure is "more than 100 times faster than the US."

(with inputs from HT Correspondent)