Elon Musk postponed a visit to India that would have included a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he needed to address urgent issues Tesla Inc.
“Unfortunately, the very high Tesla commitments require a postponement of the visit to India, but I am very much looking forward to a visit later this year,” the billionaire said in a post on X. His visit was scheduled for two days – April 21 and 22 announce plans to open up the Indian market.
The decision to postpone comes after a hectic week at Tesla. Early Sunday, Musk announced in a memo to the company’s more than 140,000 employees that he would reduce the number of employees worldwide by more than 10%. Two top managers also left.
On Wednesday, the company said it would ask shareholders to vote again on a $56 billion compensation package for Musk that was voided by a Delaware court in January. And on Friday, Tesla recalled nearly 3,900 Cybertruck pickups and cut the price of most of its cars by $2,000 in the U.S. as sales fell and inventories rose.
The company will also report first-quarter results on April 23, after already reporting vehicle deliveries missed estimates with a big gap. The stock has fallen more than 40% this year, reducing the automaker’s market value to less than $470 billion.
Musk’s planned visit to India was crucial in terms of timing for both him and Modi. India has started voting for its national elections, in which Modi is seeking a third term in office, citing the country’s economic rise. Investments from billionaires like Musk would increase his appeal among voters.
Musk is seeking approval to operate SpaceX’s Starlink in by far its largest market. According to Bloomberg, Starlink has already received assurances from the Indian government that the company can begin operations in the country as early as the third quarter of this year earlier.
Tesla has also been trying to enter India for years, but high import tariffs have had a deterrent effect – as Musk has repeatedly pointed out. India last month cut import taxes on electric vehicles from foreign automakers that commit to investing at least 41.5 billion rupees ($497 million) and starting producing electric vehicles at a local factory within three years.
A significant investment from Tesla would allow Musk to tap the growing electric vehicle market in India and address slowing demand for electric vehicles elsewhere. However, Tesla watchers would like to see action on the ground after seeing delays in previously announced projects such as the construction of a massive factory in Mexico.