Musk confirms Tesla's India entry, BJP replugs Modi's photo with him

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has confirmed the company’s much-awaited entry into India with a two-word tweet – “As promised”.

Musk was replying to a blog that said that the American electric car company is in talks with five Indian states to open stores, an office, a research and development centre, and a factory.

“As promised,” tweeted Musk in a reply to the tweet.

Musk’s confirmation comes a day after Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa tweeted that Tesla registered an R&D unit in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Yediyurappa later deleted the tweet, keeping people guessing on the veracity of the news.

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Adding more confirmation to the news, the BJP on Thursday replugged a photo of Musk standing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi near a Tesla car, on Instagram.

“PM Narendra Modi interacting with the CEO of Tesla in San Jose in 2015,” read the post which was captioned “Tesla drives into India with Bengaluru unit”.

As soon as news of Tesla’s entry broke out on Wednesday, Twitter was flooded with memes under the hashtag #Teslaindia, on the future of the company in India. Apart from the excitement seen among car enthusiasts, users joked how the car would fare on Indian roads, especially in Bengaluru which is notorious for its traffic.

The other states with which the company is supposedly in talks with are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

While Tesla’s much-awaited entry into India had been delayed by four years due to changing import policies, Musk in a tweet in December 2020 had promised that the company will start operations in the country in 2021. “Next year for sure,” he had said.

Related news: Musk says Tesla to be India next year for sure

The same was confirmed by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari who had said that Tesla will launch its Model 3 car first. The company may start its operations in India by June.