Tesla chief Elon Musk and Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal were scheduled to meet during the minister’s US visit within months of Musk meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi but the meeting didn’t happen.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal could not meet Elon Musk at the Tesla factory as the businessman was allegedly unwell and couldn’t reach California for the meeting. Billionaire Elon Musk expressed gratitude towards Mr. Goyal for visiting the Tesla facility in California as Indian government and Tesla look to advance the electric carmaker’s plan to enter the Indian market. Goyal is at present on a four-day visit to the US, which started on 13 November, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting.

The Tesla CEO apologised profusely for not being able to meet the minister as he was unwell. “It was an honor to have you visit Tesla! My apologies for not being able to travel to California today, but I look forward to meeting at a future date,” Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter), in response to Goyal’s post on his visit to the Tesla factory in Fremont, California. Goyal had posted on X, “Visited @Tesla’s state of the art manufacturing facility at Fremont, California. Extremely delighted to see talented Indian engineers & finance professionals working at senior positions and contributing to Tesla’s remarkable journey to transform mobility. Also proud to see the growing importance of Auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain. It is on its way to double its components imports from India. Missed Mr @ElonMusk’s magnetic presence and I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Tesla desires to setup an Indian factory that will manufacture a $24,000 car in the country, source more components from India, and establish charging infrastructure all over the nation, Reuters reported. At the Tesla factory, Goyal intermingled with Indian engineers and financial professionals. One of the photographs showed him sitting in the backseat of a red Tesla car inside the EV giant’s factory.

Tesla and Indian government have been in talks for several months with the US carmaker open to setting up a factory in India but also very keen on getting lower import taxes for some of its high-end vehicles. A recent Financial Times report noted that GOI is considering reducing the duty on electric vehicles (EVs) to 15% across the board. But, the report also clarified that the policy is yet to be agreed upon within the government.