Elon Musk has congratulated PM Modi but why is it ‘eyes on one thing, target on another’?

New Delhi : America’s veteran and famous industrialist Elon Musk has congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congratulations on the fact that Modi’s followers on social media platform X have reached 10 crores. he/she is the world leader with the most followers on X. The interesting thing is that Elon Musk is also the owner of X. he/she wrote on X, ‘Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on becoming the most followed global leader!’ his/her congratulations to PM Modi may be a normal courtesy but who can deny that businessman Musk can also ‘keep an eye on one thing and aim at another’ through this. Let’s understand why this is so.

Musk is eager to enter India!
Elon Musk has been wanting to enter his/her business in India for a long time. Be it Tesla cars or satellite based internet service Starlink or the vast sky of possibilities between Space-X and ISRO in space… India is the door of immense possibilities for Musk. he/she has been wanting to bring his/her business empire to India for a long time but being a hardcore and tough bargaining businessman, his/her wishes are not being fulfilled. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Tesla’s California factory during his/her US tour. At that time Modi’s first term as Prime Minister had started just a year ago. Today his/her third term has started but Musk’s most talked about companies have not been able to enter India yet. Actually, Musk wants a lot of concessions in India. The matter gets stuck here and sometimes it remains incomplete due to some other reason. he/she was going to come to India in April this year. he/she had announced it himself. It was believed that his/her visit would clear the way for Tesla and Starlink’s entry into India. But Musk cancelled his/her visit to India at the last moment. Instead of India, he/she suddenly went on a visit to China. However, the reason for his/her visit to China was believed to be the decline in Tesla’s performance and challenges there.

There are many opportunities for Musk in India
There are many opportunities in India for Elon Musk. There are a lot of opportunities in India for Tesla in the electric car segment, Starlink in the field of satellite internet and Space-X in the space science sector. India is the most populous country in the world. It is the world’s fastest growing economy with a huge middle class population. All this makes India very attractive not only for Musk but for any industrialist and even for the country. The electric vehicle market in India is still very small but it is going to grow rapidly. It has also grown rapidly in the last decade. In 2014-15, 2000 EVs were sold in India which has increased to 12 lakhs in 2023-24. However, in 2023, the share of EVs in the total vehicles sold in the country was only 2 percent. The government aims to increase it to 30 percent by 2030. This means that in the coming time, a tremendous boom can be seen in the EV sector in India. Musk also would not want to let this opportunity slip from his/her hands.

However, when Musk was to visit India in April this year, there was speculation that he/she could announce an investment for the production of Tesla’s mid-priced car (Rs 20-25 lakh) in India. It was also not clear whether Tesla would run the proposed factory in India itself or would involve an Indian partner.

Musk’s love for India
Musk had recently strongly supported India’s bid for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council. he/she had said that the current structure of the UN does not adequately represent some of the most populous countries of the world. Demanding reform in the UN, he/she had said, ‘The problem is that those who have excess power do not want to give it up. It is absurd that India does not have a permanent seat in the Security Council despite being the most populous country.’

Challenges facing Musk in China
Musk is also known for his/her outspoken opinion on political issues. But basically he/she is an industrialist who will always give priority to his/her own interests. Incidentally, Tesla is currently facing challenges in the US as well as China. Its sales have declined in the US and China. Tesla has even had to lay off 10 percent of its workforce. In recent months, sales of Tesla’s cars have declined in China. It is lagging behind local EV manufacturers in sales. This is also a big reason why Musk would like to make a strong presence in the fast growing EV market in India.