Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal emphasized India’s contribution to Tesla’s incredible journey during a visit to the US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla’s Fremont, California, production facility on Tuesday. He conversed with Indian engineers and financial experts while there, but he didn’t feel Elon Musk’s “magnetic presence.”
Notably, the minister’s illness prevented the Twitter CEO from having a face-to-face meeting. In response to the billionaire’s post about Mr. Goyal’s visit to the Tesla factory, the minister’s visit was an honour, and he expressed excitement for their next encounter.
“Went to Tesla’s cutting-edge production plant in Fremont, California. Exceptionally happy to see gifted Indian engineers and financial experts contributing to Tesla’s incredible journey to alter mobility in senior positions, Mr. Goyal wrote in a post that included images from his tour of the company’s cutting-edge Fremont production facility.
“Also proud to see the growing importance of auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain. It is on its way to double its components imports from India. Missed Mr @ElonMusk’s magnetic presence and I wish him a speedy recovery,” Mr Goyal said on social networking platform X.
Replying to him, Mr Musk tweeted, ”It was an honor to have you visit Tesla! My apologies for not being able to travel to California today, but I look forward to meeting at a future date.”
Tesla is actively seeking to open a factory in India with the goal of producing a $24,000 vehicle there.
The visit is significant because, according to some sources, India is considering granting Tesla customs tax breaks in exchange for the company establishing a plant there. Mr. Goyal stated in September that the company plans to get parts from India for about USD 1.9 billion this year as opposed to USD 1 billion in 2022.