Tesla CEO Elon Musk would be among the leading US CEOs to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to the United States. Musk would be among the first set of CEOs who will call on Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday evening in New York.

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Elon Musk had first met Prime Minsiter Modi during the latter's visit to Tesla factory in San Jose in 2015. Indian government has held several rounds of meetings with the Tesla management on the possibility of Tesla moving some part of its supply chain to India.

Tesla has no concrete plans to setup a manufacturing plant in India, so far. However there is a keen interest in India as a market. Tesla officials were in India just a few days ago to hold discussions, ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to United States.

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Over two years ago, Tesla had started putting together an India team with the hope of first importing cars into the country and then setting up a manufacturing unit once sales reached a certain scale. Elon Musk had sought a duty reduction from 110 percent to 40 percent for importing Tesla cars into India from China. India had refused a duty reduction on the grounds that Tesla must give a roadmap to manufacture in India and any duty concessions cannot be given to Tesla alone.

Even in the recent meetings held at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and other government departments one month ago, India has continued to maintain the stand that Tesla cannot be given preferential treatment. However, Indian officials feel there is a compelling case for Tesla to setup manufacturing in India which has become a leading automotive market.

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First Published:Jun 20, 2023 11:25 AM IST