“Paisa Kisi Ka Bhi Ho…”: Modi On Elon Musk’s India Plans
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly believes that investment from across the globe is welcome but the products should have the essence of the country’s soil and its citizens should be engaged in the manufacturing process.
PM Modi, in an interview with ANI ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, asserted that whoever wishes to invest in India can do so, but it must be produced by Indians so that youth can get employment opportunities.
“I want investment to come in India because in India, it doesn’t matter who has invested money, (but) the sweat put into the work must be of our own people. The product should have the essence of our soil, so that our youth in the country will get employment opportunities,” PM Modi said, to a question on Elon Musk’s Tesla and Starlink’s possible entry into India.
During the interview, the Prime Minister was asked about Elon Musk publicly saying that the latter was a fan of PM Modi.
To that, PM Modi responded by saying that Musk is a supporter of India.
“Look, the first thing saying that Elon Musk is supporter of Modi is one thing, basically, he is a supporter of India. And I just met him. It’s not like that,” he said.
PM Modi also recalled about his visit to Musk’s factory back in 2015. The Prime Minister said Musk cancelled his pre-scheduled commitment and met him.
“He showed me everything in his factory. And I understood his vision from him. I went there just now (to the US in 2023) and met him again. And now he is about to come to India,” PM Modi said.
Elon Musk is set to meet PM Narendra Modi in India later this month, as per a post on X by the Tesla chief. It is widely expected Musk may unveil big-ticket investment plan in India. However, the final agenda for Musk’s trip to India is yet to be confirmed.
Earlier this month Musk had said that India, like every other country, should have electric car and it will be a natural progression for his company to provide Tesla electric vehicles in India.
“India is now the most populous country in the world, based on population. India should have electric cars just like every other country has electric cars. It’s a natural progression to provide Tesla electric vehicles in India,” Musk had said in a X Spaces session with Nicolai Tangen, the Chief Executive Officer at Norges Bank Investment Management.
In his interview with ANI, PM Modi said that India has committed to the world that the country is moving very fast on electric vehicle domain and companies must come and invest here.
Outlining the growth in India’s EV sector, PM Modi gave a gist how sales in electric vehicles rose from just 2,000 in 2014-15 to 12 lakh in 2023-24.
“Not 2,000 units, but 12 lakhs units were sold in 2023-24. This means a network of such a big charging station has been created. It has helped the environment and we have made policies regarding this,” the Prime Minister said.
“We have told the world that India is moving very fast on EVs. If you want to do manufacturing, you should come,” he added
