Tech3 | Tesla CEO Musk's India visit; Scaler lays off 150 employees; and more

One quick thing: OnePlus devices will not be available in 4,500 stores across 23 retail chains in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat from May 1. Here’s why .

In today’s newsletter:?

• Tesla CEO Musk to meet PM Modi in April
• Scaler lays off 150 employees?
• Premji Invest wants a piece of Canva

Tesla CEO Musk to meet PM Modi in April

Will Tesla electric cars finally make their way onto Indian roads???

Driving the news: Mercurial tech billionaire Elon Musk is visiting India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi ?in the week of April 22, along with revealing plans to invest and open a factory in the country, according to Reuters.

• In June 2023, Musk had stated plans to visit India in 2024 , following an invitation from PM Modi during his state visit to the US?

Earlier this week, the Tesla and SpaceX chief said it was a "natural progression" ?to provide Tesla electric vehicles (EV) in the world's most populous country.

• Interestingly, Musk's visit to India coincides with the country's Union elections, which are scheduled to kick off on April 19

New EV policy: Tesla, one of the world's largest automakers, has lobbied for several years to cut import taxes ?in India.

• After refusing to budge for years, the Indian government finally unveiled a new EV policy ?last month. This policy offers import duty concessions, provided manufacturers fulfill certain conditions

Meanwhile, a race is on between several states, including Tamil Nadu , Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. These states have been attempting to woo the electric carmaker with attractive incentives and land offers in order to secure the investment.

• The proposed factory is expected to draw an investment of around $2 billion to $3 billion

The big picture?

Tesla's India foray comes amid slowing EV demand in the US and China alongside intensifying competition from rival car makers.?

• Earlier this month, the company witnessed its first-ever drop in quarterly deliveries since 2020.?

On the other hand, this development is expected to significantly boost India's ambitions of becoming an EV manufacturing hub.?

P.S. It will be interesting to see if Tesla can survive the traffic conditions in India.

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