New York:  After hearing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” pitch, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced a change of plans, saying that his electric vehicle and battery company will now come to India “as soon as it is humanly possible”.

Musk told reporters in conversations following his meeting with Modi on Tuesday, “He really cares about India because he’s pushing us to make significant investments in India, which is something that we intend to do and we’re just trying to figure out the right timing.”

It was a change of plans for the mercurial Musk who had earlier refused to consider manufacturing in India unless India lowered tariffs for imported Teslas to be sold in India.

Modi “really wants to do the right thing for India,” he said.

Modi wants to make sure that the advantage from investments “accrues to India’s advantage, which is, you know, obviously, that’s the job,” he added.

India has more “promise than any large country in the world,” he said.

If Tesla comes to India, it will be following the pattern of companies like Apple diversifying their manufacturing from China because of geopolitical and supply chain issues.

Musk gushed about his “fantastic meeting with the Prime Minister” and declared, “I am a fan of Modi.”

He said that Modi had invited him to visit India and that he would next year.

Musk added that India has tremendous potential for “the three pillars of sustainable energy future” — a goal of Modi.

These were power generation using solar and wind energy, deploying batteries to store it, and having electric vehicles that run on it, the Tesla CEO said.(IANS)