By Aditi Shah, Aditya Kalra and Sarita Chaganti Singh
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Tesla chief Elon Musk has postponed a planned trip to India where he was to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and announce plans to enter the South Asian market, four people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
Reuters could not immediately determine why Musk postponed the trip. Tesla and Modi’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After Reuters reported his India trip plans on April 10, the CEO posted on X: “Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India!”
In New Delhi, Musk was expected to announce an investment of $2 billion to $3 billion, mainly to build a factory in India, after the government announced a policy lowering high tariffs on imported cars if companies invest locally, Reuters has reported.
He was also expected to meet executives from several space startups in New Delhi. Musk is awaiting Indian government regulatory approvals to begin offering his Starlink satellite broadband services in the world’s most populous country.
Musk’s planned Sunday arrival was to have come two days after the start of India’s nation election, in which Modi is forecast to win a rare third term.
The CEO and the prime minister are both at critical junctures.
Modi, in his election campaign, wants to highlight progress toward promises of making India a global manufacturing hub. Tesla could have used the India announcement to reassure investors after months of share-price declines and the news on April 15 that it would lay off more than 10% of its global workforce.
Rohan Patel, a Tesla public policy executive who, according to sources, was one of those leading the company’s India entry plans, also resigned this week.
(Reporting by Aditi and Shah Aditya Kalra; Editing by William Mallard)