Adar Poonawalla to Elon Musk: Invest in India for manufacturing Tesla cars

Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla on Sunday on Twitter asked Elon Musk to invest in India for large-scale manufacturing of Tesla cars, saying it would be the 'best investment' he could ever make.

Musk is the CEO of US-based automotive and clean energy company Tesla Inc and heads two of his other ventures, SpaceX and The Boring Company. Musk, the world's richest individual, recently struck a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion.

Poonawalla took to Twitter and suggested that if the Twitter deal were to fall through, Musk should consider investing that capital in India for high-quality large-scale manufacturing of @Tesla cars.


"Hey @elonmusk just in case you don't end up buying @Twitter, do look at investing some of that capital in INDIA for high-quality large-scale manufacturing of @Tesla cars. I assure you this will be the best investment you'll ever make," Poonawalla tweeted.


Musk has secured about $7.1 billion of new financing commitments, including from billionaire Larry Ellison, a Saudi Prince, and Sequoia Capital, to help fund his proposed $44 billion takeover of Twitter Inc.

The equity commitments from 19 investors come as the Tesla Inc. billionaire marshals capital to bankroll one of the biggest tech industry takeovers. Musk had originally said he planned to fund the deal in part with a $12.5 billion loan against his shares in Tesla, the electric-vehicle company he runs.

CNBC reported that Musk plans to serve as chief executive officer of Twitter, at least temporarily.

Last month, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said if Tesla was ready to manufacture its electric vehicles in India then there was 'no problem' but the company must not import cars from China.

In August last year, Musk had said that American electric vehicle maker Tesla may set up manufacturing unit in India if it first succeeds with imported vehicles in the country.

He had said Tesla wanted to launch its vehicles in India "but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country!"

Currently, India imposes 100% import duty on fully imported cars with CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) value more than $40,000 and 60% on those costing less than the amount.