On Elon Musk’s Tesla-India update, Ola CEO says, ‘Thanks but no thanks’

Elon Musk’s response to a Twitter user on an update about Tesla’s India operations have drawn the ire of Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. Musk, the world’s richest person, on Friday told a Twitter user: “Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed first to sell & service cars.” His response came when he was asked: “What about Tesla ? Is Tesla manufacturing a plant in India in future?” Musk was suggesting that he’d want market access in the country to bring the clean energy firm’s operations in India.

To this, the Ola CEO responded: “Thanks but no thanks”.

Tesla has been encouraged to manufacture locally in India and avoid selling cars made in China’s financial hub of Shanghai. “It is a very easy alternative, if Elon Musk is ready to manufacture a Tesla in India, there is no problem. We have got all competencies, the vendors are available. We have got all types of technology and because of that, he can reduce the cost,” union minister Nitin Gadkari had recently said.

“He is welcome in India. We don’t have any problem, but, suppose, he wants to manufacture in China and sell in India, it cannot be a good proposition for India. Our request to him is, come to India and manufacture here,” he had added.

In another tweet, Musk had also said that he was waiting for government approval for bringing Starlink to India, which uses satellites to provide internet services, creating an alternative to land-based systems.

Meanwhile, Ola too has been eyeing an expansion of its electric vehicles business. Last month, Ola Electric had said in a statement that it plans to accelerate its new ambitious projects such as electric car, cell manufacturing and the gigafactory, besides deepening focus on technology and engineering.