Elon Musk (28 June, 1971) is a South-African born entrepreneur. Musk has pursued many ventures, including co-founding PayPal and founding SpaceX. Through SpaceX, Musk created Starlink, a constellation of satellites with the goal of providing global internet coverage. In 2022, he acquired X (formerly Twitter). The largest shareholder and CEO of Tesla, Musk is one of the wealthiest people in the world.
Musk has been interested in bringing Tesla to India for years, but India has had high tariffs on foreign Electric Vehicles, which would make Teslas unaffordable in the country. However, in early March 2024, India announced that tariffs would be reduced for foreign EV companies that set up manufacturing in the country of at least $500 million. This change in rules seems to have been created specifically to accommodate Tesla, although other foreign companies can also utilize it.
Musk’s SpaceX is working with the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO), to launch a communication satellite, GSAT 20, on SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The goal of GSAT 20 is to boost broadband communication in remote regions of India, and aims to launch in the second quarter of 2024. GSAT 20 is too heavy to be launched by any in-house rockets at ISRO. This deal signifies a shift, since India previously relied on French company Arianespace to launch their satellites.
Musk also has expressed discontent about India not having a permanent seat on the United Nations Security council, despite being the most populous nation in the world.
Having previously visited Hyderabad, India, for the International Astronautical Congress in 2007, Musk expressed intentions to revisit in 2024 following a meeting with Prime Minister Modi in June 2023.
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