Modi doesn't need Musk to win elections, but billionaire's visit a boon for India, expert says

As Indians start casting votes in the 44-day election that started Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk will meet, with reports indicating that Musk will announce an investment of $2 billion to $3 billion in the country.

«I don't think Mr. Musk is going to make a huge impact, positive or negative, on Mr. Modi, but [his visit’s] going to solidify Modi as someone who's able to attract the world's fanciest corporations to India to manufacture in India,» Siddhartha Dubey, a journalism professor based in Evanston, Illinois, told Fox News Digital.

«Mr. Modi is going to win these elections, no doubt about that,» Dubey added. «He doesn't need Elon Musk to help him.»

«What Mr. Modi is really, really good at is turning a figure like Elon Musk, the world's richest man who lives in America, into ‘Look at me. Look how well I'm doing. I am able to attract the world's wealthiest man to India. Vote for me.’»

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Musk met with Modi last year during the prime minister’s visit to the U.S. in November, when Musk revealed that he remains «confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so soon as humanly possible.»

The Tesla founder seems set to make good on that promise with a massive investment potentially upward of $3 billion, earmarked mainly to build a new factory, according to the Indian Express newspaper. The duo is to meet on Monday to discuss details of the plan that will see Tesla enter the world’s third-largest car market – and to boost an Indian electric car market that remains underdeveloped.

Electric vehicles (EVs) made up just 2% of total car sales in India in 2023, with the government aiming to grow that to 30% starting in 2030, and Tesla will welcome the shift in focus as EV sales in the U.S. and China slow and Tesla has cut jobs, The Hindu newspaper reported.

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«Tesla has no footprint, really, in India in terms of electric cars,» Dubey said. «The biggest player in the Indian market right now is Tata [Motors], but Hyundai as well as Mahindra, another Indian manufacturer, and Toyota have strong