Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has pledged to expand the electric car company into India "at the earliest opportunity."
This assurance follows a meeting with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is presently on an official visit to the United States.
The Indian administration has extended an invitation to Musk to evaluate potential investments in the areas of electric vehicles and the commercial space industry.
Musk acknowledged that he is assessing the optimal timing for this endeavor.
Musk's interaction with Modi, who is also the owner of Twitter, occurred just after Twitter's co-founder Jack Dorsey accused India of intending to block the social platform for failing to remove certain content as demanded.
The Indian authorities vehemently refuted Dorsey's assertions, which were made during an interview with an independent news program, branding them as "utterly false".
In a response to this incident on Wednesday, Musk suggested that Twitter was obliged to comply with local government regulations or face closure.
Musk pledged to "strive to provide the maximum free speech permissible under the law".
In addition, Musk expressed admiration for Modi and touted India as the country with "the most potential among all large nations worldwide."
He lauded Modi's dedication towards India's growth, evidenced by encouraging substantial investments into the country, a strategy Tesla intends to adopt once they discern the appropriate timing. He expressed confidence in Tesla's future expansion into India "at the soonest viable instance."
Tesla has been engaging with Indian officials and ministers in its pursuit to penetrate the Indian market.
A report by Reuters last month indicated Tesla's plans of establishing an electric vehicle manufacturing unit in India, as well as the possibility of producing EV batteries locally. Federal Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar confirmed to the agency in May that Tesla was seriously considering India as a production and innovation hub.
However, Tesla's initial plans to set up a base in India were postponed last year after the Indian government insisted on local manufacturing of the cars, whereas Tesla preferred to test the market with imports initially. Musk also expressed interest in introducing the Starlink satellite internet service, operated by his other company, SpaceX, in India.
While he refrained from making any official announcements, Musk hinted at substantial investments in the future relationship with India.
Prime Minister Modi reached New York on Tuesday for a three-day state visit, perceived as a potential turning point in US-India relations.
Modi will be formally welcomed at the White House on Thursday, ahead of his direct discussions with President Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, over 70 US lawmakers appealed to President Biden to discuss human rights issues with Modi during his visit, citing concerns over increasing religious intolerance, press freedoms, and the harassment of civil society organizations in India.