Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) meets Elon Musk (left) in New York, the United States, on June 20, 2023.
Press Information Bureau of India | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
This report comes from this week’s CNBC’s “Inside India,” which brings you timely, insightful news and market commentary about the emerging powerhouse and the big players behind its meteoric rise. Like what you see?You can subscribe here.
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Tesla CEO Musk is about to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the timing couldn’t be better.
For whom, you ask? Both!
India is gearing up for a month-and-a-half-long general election.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to win, promising to attract foreign investment and boost economic growth.
Manufacturing featured prominently in the manifesto released earlier this week. So it’s no surprise that the current president wants to flaunt Musk’s presence in India. after all, Tesla Boss has approximately 140,000 employees worldwide and produces one of the most advanced vehicles in the world.
For Musk, falling stock prices and slowing global auto sales are clear motivations for visiting booming India. Investors will welcome any news that the world’s largest electric car maker will enter the third-largest auto market.
To make things easier, India earlier this year lowered entry barriers for foreign automakers, just as China did over the past decade. Import duties have been reduced from 100% to 15% on foreign cars worth more than $35,000, a move seen as a direct move to attract Tesla.
Conditions for lowering tariffs also include automakers investing $500 million over three years to build cars locally. Before then, they could sell no more than 8,000 cars per year and enjoy cheaper import taxes.
If certain risks are ignored, this makes India look like an obvious bet for Tesla.
For example, if the election results are unexpected, will Tesla continue to benefit from government policy? Is it reportedly worth investing $2 billion to build a factory in India?
According to Bank of America, electric vehicle sales will account for 2% of the country’s 4.1 million vehicle sales in 2023. Meanwhile, despite China’s economic slowdown, a similar number of cars are sold every two to three months, with electric vehicles accounting for nearly a third of sales.
Tesla will also find cost competition challenging.Approximately 70% of India’s automobile market is comprised of Tata Motors, whose cars sell for between $10,000 and $20,000. Even Tesla’s cheaper Model 2, which is rumored to be produced in India, will cost more than this.
Even if India makes sense as a manufacturing base for exporting cheap cars, demand for electric vehicles is slowing significantly. Tesla has cut about 14,000 jobs globally to reduce costs as poor sales data squeezes profit margins.
Regardless, Tesla’s potential entry into India would certainly boost job creation – something Modi is keen to promote. In this scenario, the real winners may be India’s growing young population, hungry for jobs and better cars.
What happened to the market?
indian stock market index Sensex and nifty 50 The company has had a brutal week and is down about 2.4% year to date due to geopolitics, bad inflation and strong consumer spending data. Year to date, the benchmark has gained 0.34% and 1.22%, respectively.
India’s 10-year government bond yield rose this week to 7.18% in line with global government bond markets.Dollar rises against US dollar indian currency 1 US dollar is currently exchanged for 83.54 rupees.
For equity investors, iShares MSCI India ETF Down 2.3% so far this week, underperforming the market iShares All Country World Index ETF, also down 1.3%. The India ETF is up 4.75% this year.
This week, J.P. Morgan’s Harsh Modi discussed opportunities in India’s banking sector on CNBC and said their Asset quality is “one of the cleanest” in the Asia Pacific region.
We also debated the investment preferences between China and India. Alexander Kusli of Russell Investments shares why he prefers the Chinese market to the Indian market on a valuation basis.But Bhaskar Laxminaryan of Julius Baer, on the contrary, says the Indian market is a The story has just begun.
What else happened?
Indians went to the polls to participate in the world’s largest democratic election. You probably don’t need the reminder, but the election starts on Friday and will be Seven stages over the next six weeks. Voters will decide who fills seats in the lower house of parliament for the next five years.
The International Monetary Fund raised its growth forecast for this year. In a series of reports and comments released this week by the International Monetary Fund, India received increased by 0.3 percentage points The GDP growth rate updated in January this year was 6.8%. The strength reflects “continued strong domestic demand and a growing working-age population,” the report said.
The cost of traveling on a luxury train in India may surprise you. Our travel team revealed Pricing for these luxury trains Blending historic elegance with modern comfort. These trains were launched to promote tourism in the country and provide tourists with a rich way to experience India.
Here are the 5 best companies to work for in India. CNBC Make It took a look at a new list from LinkedIn that shows companies that prioritize employee experience and growth.Tata Consultancy Services tops the list, but This is the complete list.
What happens next week?
Apart from the election, we will also see the FPO of Indian mobile network operator Vodafone Idea.
An FPO (Follow-on Offering) is another public offering that occurs after a company’s initial public offering. In this case, Vodafone Idea has an opportunity to raise more funds to expand its services. The market opens on Thursday and closes on Monday, and will be listed on April 25.