Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk set the online community on fire after following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the microblogging platform last Monday.
PM Modi, with more than 87.7 million followers, is one of the most followed global leaders on Twitter. On the other hand, Billionaire Musk has more than 134 million followers.
With that simple gesture, the automotive space is quick to speculate about Tesla’s plans to develop a new Gigafactory in India or at least penetrate the country’s electric vehicle industry.
Will Tesla actually open an Indian gigafactory?
It is worth noting that Tesla was already rumored to penetrate the Indian EV market several years ago. At that time, CEO Musk demanded significant tax breaks from the government.
However, the Modi administration declined to make any accommodations for the import taxes and levies that Tesla would pay when sourcing components for a nearly finished Tesla EV from China, per Firstpost.
In 2022, Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari asserted in May 2022 that Tesla might reap the advantages if it starts EV production in the country.
“Come to India, start manufacturing; India is a large market; they can export from India.”
Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari
However, Tesla’s boss insists on first launching Tesla EVs and a service network in the country before developing a gigafactory.
Now, many EV enthusiasts are speculating that Tesla is looking to pursue the Indian market.
“What made Elon Musk follow Narendra Modi of India? Can we expect a factory there $TSLA. Let’s see.”
Technosmith
Twitter user @plaidCPA replied to Elon Alert’s tweet, “Another battery factory?”
Originally, Musk had declared that Tesla wouldn’t produce electric vehicles in India until it was first permitted to sell and service them locally.
Meanwhile, Nitin Gadkari, the Indian Minister of Road Transport, made it clear that the government will only let Tesla sell EVs in India if it produces electric vehicles there.
