Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Billionaire Elon Musk's postponement of his trip to India drew a sharp reaction from the Opposition Congress, with the grand old party taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.
Responding to Musk's announcement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh used the opportunity to target the government. "It was odd that Elon Musk was coming all the way to India to meet an outgoing Prime Minister. He too has now read the writing on the wall and decided to put off his visit," Ramesh said.
"The I.N.D.I.A government will promote electric vehicles even more aggressively -- I myself am a user of one!" he added.
Musk had earlier met Modi during the Prime Minister's visit to the United States last June and that he has plans to visit India in 2024. He had then expressed confidence that Tesla would enter the Indian market soon.
His proposed visit also came came weeks after the Union government announced a new electric vehicle policy, under which import duty concessions will be given to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of $500 million.
Musk on Saturday said he was postponing is visit to India due to "very heavy Tesla obligations". The CEO of electric carmaker Tesla was to be in India for a two day visit starting Sunday and scheduled to meet Modi.
"Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year," Musk said in a post on X. He was responding to a post which said his proposed India visit had been postponed and the reason could be that he needed to attend Tesla's earnings call on April 23.
Earlier in April, Musk had announced that he would be visiting India and said on X, "Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India." There was speculation that he would announce plans for Tesla to set up shop in the country along with his satcom venture Starlink.
Musk's announcement had also raised curiosity as India was slated to be in the midst of an election during his visit. The ruling BJP, however, saw it as a show of confidence by a global business icon on Modi's government. Recently, a video interaction of philanthropist Bill Gates with Modi had also attracted eyeballs.