'Namaste': Why Elon Musk is 'wooing' India after Twitter acquisition

New Delhi: “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government," new Twitter boss Elon Musk had said in January responding to a tweet asking when Tesla would enter the Indian market. Back then the mercurial billionaire had jus started buying shares of Twitter, amassing a 5 per cent stake in the company by mid-March. After months of negotiations and back and forth, Musk on 26 October posted a video of himself entering Twitter headquarters carrying a kitchen sink, indicating that the deal is set to go through. On 27 October, Musk finally tweeted “the bird is freed” after he closed the $44-billion buyout to take the company private, just prior to the court-appointed deadline. Musk wooing India? While the Indian government is persuading Tesla to ‘Make in India’ instead of exporting its futuristic cars, Twitter boss, after the acquisition, has apparently been - through some gestures - wooing India which is one of the largest markets for social media companies and the microblogging site is no exception. Twitter had 23.6 million users in India as of January 2022, according to market intelligence firm Statista, and the country is likely one of the key markets for the company’s growth. Musk’s tweet urging those critical of his handling the microblogging site to stay on other platforms and wrapping up his message in Hindi saying “Namaste” - stressing it’s the end of the dialogue, in this case, is being seen as an attempt to attract Indian engagement on Twitter.

Namaste 🙏

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2022

Early today, Musk greeted millions of Indian followers with ‘Namaste’ as he paused Blue service with verification again which was scheduled to be launched from 29 November. “I am having a great time. Namaste,” tweeted Musk, as he understands that India is a key market for Twitter and several Indian-origin software engineers are working at the company. On his Namaste tweet, several follower also greeted him along with sarcasm. “He wants Indian engagement on twitter,” posted one follower. “Looks like Indians on your team are teaching you well!” posted another. “Namaskar,” said another follower. India strong potential for Twitter  The digital advertising agencies in India are closely looking up to Twitter for whom it is a key platform to build brand awareness for advertisers. Players in the digital advertising space say that India holds strong potential for Twitter in terms of digital marketing. According to experts, India is one of the fastest-growing markets for Twitter and that it is one of the key regions for growth for the social media platform over the next few years. “It (Twitter) creates an opportunity for brands to converse with their potential customers. It is a great platform for advocacy and brand positioning. It has been used by brands like Zomato, Swiggy, and Fevicol to piggybank on conversations happening on the platform. Hence, it is a key part of a digital strategy of a brand and also because it has such a large user base within India,” Money Control quoted Aayush Bansal, Director and co-founder of Black Cab, as saying. Bansal said the lion’s share of digital spending goes to social media platforms including Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.