Days after Prime Minster Narendra Modi met Tesla head Elon Musk in the US last week, the electric vehicle manufacturer has started hiring for its India operations. According to the Careers page of the company, it is seeking candidates for at least 13 job roles in Delhi and Mumbai.
The job roles range from Service Advisor and Parts Advisor to Tesla Advisor, Customer Support Supervisor and Delivery Operations Specialist.
As all the job roles are based out of Mumbai and Delhi, it may be expected that the company may open its first India stores starting from the two metros.
Last week, during his visit to the US, PM Modi had met the Tesla CEO along with his family. "We discussed... space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India's efforts towards reform and furthering 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance', Modi had later said on X.
However, when asked about the meeting at a press conference in presence of US President Donald Trump, Modi had said that his meeting with Musk was in a "family setting".
Tesla’s plan to enter the Indian market were put on hold since 2019 due to the high import taxes on electric vehicles. India earlier levied a 60% import tax on electric vehicles priced $40,000 or less, and 100% on those priced above $40,000.
In 2022, Musk had said that he wanted to launch cars in India but the country’s import duties on EVs are “highest in the world by far”.
However, Musk's India plan may take off as the government has now reduced the import tax on high-end cars priced above $40,000 from almost 110% to 70%.