After India, Musk Finds Fault With Singapore

Beginning his Twitter tirade in New Year, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has criticized Singapore, saying the government there has been "unwelcome" to his electric car plans for the city state. Responding to one of his follower's question on why Tesla was not yet in Singapore, Musk tweeted late Thursday: "Government has been unwelcome." This is not the first time Musk has complained about Singapore. Last year, he tweeted that he wants Tesla in Singapore but the government was "not supportive" of electric vehicles. Responding to another tweet, Musk said: "Singapore has enough area to switch to solar/battery and be energy-independent."

Not just Singapore, Musk is also critical of the Indian government when it comes to Tesla. Musk, who visited China in May in July last year, said he wants to visit India in early 2019 but the country generally makes him feel hopeless due to tough government regulations. "Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately," Musk tweeted in May. In a separate tweet later, Musk said he was keen to be in India soon. "Probably early next year."

Musk wanted to bring Tesla to India as early as the summer of 2017 but stringent local sourcing norms derailed his plans. In 2017, Musk said Tesla's cars could come to India but there was no further news. Musk later blamed the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms for the delay in Tesla's entry into the Indian market.