Tesla CEO Elon Musk conveyed his “apologies” to Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, after the two missed an opportunity to meet during the latter’s visit to the Tesla factory in Fremont, California.
Minister Goyal shared his excitement about touring Tesla’s cutting-edge manufacturing facility on Monday (local time), highlighting the significant presence of Indian professionals in key roles and the growing importance of Indian auto component suppliers in Tesla’s supply chain. Despite the positive engagement, Goyal expressed regret at missing Musk’s “magnetic presence” during the visit, wishing him a “speedy recovery”.
Responding to Goyal’s post, Musk expressed his gratitude, saying, “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.”
Following his visit to Tesla’s manufacturing facility in California’s Fremont, Goyal said that the US electric car maker is on its way to double its component imports from India.
Goyal stressed that he is proud to see the growing importance of auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain.
He said that he is “delighted” to see Indian engineers and finance professionals working in senior positions and contributing to Tesla’s journey to transform mobility.
Taking to X, Goyal said, “Visited @Tesla ‘s state of the art manufacturing facility at Fremont, California. Extremely delighted to see talented Indian engineers & finance professionals working at Senior positions and contributing to Tesla’s remarkable journey to transform mobility. 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.”
Goyal, who is on a visit to the United States from November 13 to 16, arrived in San Francisco Monday morning (local time) and will participate in the third in-person Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial meeting from November 13-14, 2023. During his visit, he will also attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco.
Musk said in June this year that he is planning to visit India next year, adding that he is confident that the electric carmaker will be in India and will do so “as soon as humanly possible.”
He said, “I am planning to visit India next year. I am confident that Tesla will be in India and we will do so as soon as humanly possible,” adding, “I would like to thank PM Modi for his support and hopefully, we will be able to announce something in the future.”
Calling himself a fan of PM Modi, Musk also noted that the prime minister visited a Tesla factory in California many years ago. The Prime Minister had previously met with Musk in 2015 during a visit to the Tesla Motors factory in Freemont, California.
“….he really cares about India. He is pushing us to make significant investments in India which is something we intend to do,” Musk said about his meeting with PM Modi.
The Tesla CEO said that he had an “excellent conversation” with PM Modi and that quite likely there will be a significant investment in India.
His comments to reporters were made outside the Lotte New York Palace, following a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a historic four-day State visit to the US in June this year.
Meanwhile, PM Modi tweeted after his meeting with Musk, “Great meeting you today @elonmusk! We had multifaceted conversations on issues ranging from energy to spirituality.”
Musk said that PM Modi has invited him to India and that he is planning to come to India next year.
