- Tesla has not contacted the Indian government since Elon Musk canceled his trip in April, according to Bloomberg.
- Tesla initially planned to build a new factory in India, but appears to have changed direction.
- Musk has asked investors to think of Tesla as an AI or robotics company rather than a carmaker.
India may no longer be a priority for Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk.
The billionaire’s team has not contacted officials in the country since he canceled his trip to India in April, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
“Unfortunately Tesla’s very heavy obligations require that the India visit be delayed, but I am very much looking forward to visiting later this year,” Musk said in a message posted on X on April 20.
Bloomberg’s sources also said that the Indian government does not expect Tesla to make any investments in the near future as the company is facing capital issues.
Tesla and India’s ministries of heavy industry, finance and commerce did not respond to requests for comment from the outlet.
The report comes as a surprise, given that Tesla has long viewed India as a potential area for expansion.
In April, Reuters reported that the electric vehicle giant was planning to build a new factory in India as part of a $2 billion to $3 billion investment in the country. Musk was expected to announce the expansion plans during his planned visit to India.
But Elon Musk did end up visiting another Asian country in April. The Tesla CEO made a surprise trip to China, just a week after canceling his trip to India, where he met with the country’s second-highest-ranking politician, Li Qiang.
The trip was fruitful for Elon Musk, who has spoken of his ambitions to make Tesla a leading company in artificial intelligence and robotics. According to a Bloomberg report in April, Chinese authorities have given Tesla approval in principle to deploy its fully autonomous driving technology in the country.
That said, India has probably not entirely disappeared from Elon Musk’s radar.
Elon Musk has congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his government’s election victory in the country’s general elections. The two men last met in New York in June 2023.
“Congratulations Narendra Modi on winning the world’s biggest democratic election! Looking forward to my companies doing exciting work in India,” Musk wrote in a June 7 post on X.
Representatives for Tesla and the Indian Commerce Ministry did not immediately respond to BI’s requests for comment sent outside normal business hours.
