Tesla Expands Hiring in India Following Musk-Modi Meeting

Image Credit: Reuters

Tesla (TSLA), led by Elon Musk, is actively recruiting senior staff in India, according to job listings posted this week, signaling the company's renewed push to enter the country's rapidly growing electric vehicle market. These listings come shortly after Musk's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.

Tesla has been eyeing the Indian market for years and has previously planned to set up local manufacturing. While some executives were hired in 2022, several high-level employees left the company when India plans were temporarily shelved. 

Tesla has resumed efforts to secure showroom space in India since late last year and has now posted 13 job openings, including customer-facing and back-end roles in Mumbai. Notably, a "store manager" position was listed, indicating that Tesla is preparing to open a showroom in the city. The company is also seeking delivery operations and customer support specialists.

The job postings come after Modi's recent meeting with Musk, during which topics like space, mobility, and innovation were discussed. Musk has criticized India's high import tariffs on electric vehicles, which are around 100%, and has lobbied for their reduction. However, local automakers oppose Tesla's market entry, fearing its impact on their own EV plans.

Earlier, Musk had planned to meet Modi during a trip to India and announce a $2 billion-$3 billion investment, but the visit was canceled after Tesla decided to lay off 10% of its global workforce due to declining sales. In November, Reuters reported that Tesla was also exploring showroom locations in New Delhi, with early discussions underway with real estate developer DLF.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author