BENGALURU, Nov 14 ― US electric car maker Tesla Inc is planning to double the number of components it imports from India, Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal said today through a post on social media platform X.

"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,” Goyal posted on X, earlier called Twitter, after visiting Tesla's manufacturing facility at Fremont, California.

He was, however, unable to meet Tesla chief Elon Musk during his visit to the plant, Goyal added.

He said in September Tesla was aiming to source components worth between US$1.7 billion (RM8 billion) and US$1.9 billion from India this year, having bought US$1 billion of components last year.

The minister's visit to the US was supposed to include discussions with Musk around Tesla's plans to setup an Indian factory, manufacturing a US$24,000 car there, sourcing more components and establishing charging infrastructure across the nation, Reuters reported last week. ― Reuters