Highlighting the conducive environment for automobile manufacturing in India, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that Elon Musk is welcome to manufacture e-vehicles in India, but in case the Tesla owner desires to build in China and sell here, it cannot be a “good proposition”.
Gadkari made the remarks while speaking at a private event in Delhi answering a question on Tesla’s concerns on “high duties” in India. “It is a very easy alternative, if Elon Musk is ready to manufacture a Tesla in India, there is no problem. We have got all competencies, the vendors are available. We have got all types of technology and because of that, he can reduce the cost,” Gadkari said.
Inviting Tesla to start manufacturing in India, the Union Minister highlighted that India is a huge market, and infrastructure like ports are available to enable exports. “He is welcome in India. We don’t have any problem, but, suppose, he wants to manufacture in China and sell in India, it cannot be a good proposition for India. Our request to him is, come to India and manufacture here,” Gadkari said.
Citing the tremendous growth in the e-vehicles sector in India over the last few years, Gadkari further said that “my suggestion to Elon Musk is, in India, he will get a good market and Indian market is very huge. It is a win-win situation for both.”
He added that India has all the quality vendors and automobile spare parts that are available in China and that “it can be more easy for him to make here in India and sell in India. He will get good profits from that, and good economics is there. I will request him to come to India and start manufacturing here.”
The Union Minister also talked about India’s dependence on crude oil and said that the government is working on alternative sources of energy. “Presently because of import of crude oil, we are facing critical economic challenges at the same time pollution problems. We import Rs 8 lakh crores of petroleum products in India and exactly on the line we need to find some alternative for that, so different alternatives are there. The government is working on all options and I feel that in some time we will be in a position to give an alternative solution for the country,” Gadkari said. Gadkari also talked about the ongoing research in India on the production of “green hydrogen” from biowaste and other methods, saying, “In due course of time we will be in a leading position in the world as far as green hydrogen is concerned.”
Meanwhile, a report from Washington said Twitter on Monday (local time) confirmed the sale of the company to Tesla Chief Elon Musk for USD 44 billion. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive USD 54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter stock they own, matching Musk’s original offer and marking a 38 per cent premium over the stock price the day before Musk revealed his stake in the company, CNN reported. It further reported that the deal caps off a whirlwind news cycle in which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO became one of Twitter’s largest shareholders, was offered and turned down a seat on its board and bid to buy the company—all in less than a month. “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential—I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it,” he added.