'Punjab Model': After Maharashtra and Telangana, now Sidhu invites Elon Musk's Tesla to set up shop

Indian ministers are seemingly attempting to one-up each other by inviting Tesla CEO Elon Musk to set up shop. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Navjot Singh Sidhu became the latest to extend an offer to the billionaire after Telangana’s industry and commerce Minister KT Rama Rao and Maharashtra’s water resources minister Jayant Patil. Sidhu, quoting a Musk tweet, posted:

I invite @elonmusk, Punjab Model will create Ludhiana as hub for Electric Vehicles & Battery industry with time bound single window clearance for investment that brings new technology to Punjab, create green jobs, walking path of environment preservation & sustainable development https://t.co/kXDMhcdVi6

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) January 16, 2022

Earlier Musk had said in a tweet that the electric vehicle company continues to face "a lot of challenges" with the Indian government regarding the setting up of car production in India. Tagging the billionaire’s tweet, Patil earlier wrote, “Maharashtra is one of the most progressive states in India. We will provide you all the necessary help from Maharashtra for you to get established in India. We invite you to establish your manufacturing plant in Maharashtra.”

.@elonmusk, Maharashtra is one of the most progressive states in India. We will provide you all the necessary help from Maharashtra for you to get established in India. We invite you to establish your manufacturing plant in Maharashtra. https://t.co/w8sSZTpUpb

— Jayant Patil- जयंत पाटील (@Jayant_R_Patil) January 16, 2022

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These offers came a day after Rao made a strong pitch to Elon Musk for setting up units in Telangana, saying he would be “happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges”. “Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India. Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana. Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India,” Rao said replying to Musk’s tweet.

Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India

Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana

Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India https://t.co/hVpMZyjEIr

— KTR (@KTRBRS) January 14, 2022

West Bengal also made a pitch for a piece of the electric vehicle revolution as one of its ministers sent an invite to Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk to “drop here” and set up his business in the state, days after the industrialist tweeted that he was trying to work through some challenges with the Centre, PTI said in a report. On Wednesday evening, a Twitter user posted a tweet asking Musk whether there was any further update of Tesla manufacturing launch in India and saying the vehicles “deserve to be in every corner of the world.” “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government, " Musk answered on Twitter. As per a report by Hindustan Times, government sources have said that while Tesla was free to use the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) window to produce electric vehicles in India, Musk wanted to slash import duties without offering any commitment to produce in India. And, there lay the challenges.

Musk announced in 2020 that Tesla would set up manufacturing units for electric vehicles in India. A Tesla subsidiary firm named India Motors and Energy Private Limited has been set up. The company is based out of Bengaluru.

Musk said he was ready to build a Tesla factory in India if the country reduces the cost of importing electric vehicles. According to Forbes’ real-time billionaires’ list, Musk comes in first surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with a $244.2 billion net worth as of Monday. On 13 December, Time magazine named Musk as “Person of the Year 2021.”

With inputs from agencies 

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