Tesla steps up India hiring after Musk-Modi meet, fast-tracking market entry plan

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FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025, in this picture obtained from social media.@narendramodi via X/via REUTERS/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

Among them is a "store manager" role responsible for overseeing and driving sales at the location, one job listing showed, a sign that Tesla is looking to open a showroom in the city. Delivery operations and customer support specialists are also being sought, the ads showed.

 

FILE PHOTO: The Tesla logo is seen on a Tesla Model S P85D outside the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, California April 30, 2015. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

The listings come just after Modi met Musk in the United States last week, and discussed issues including space, mobility, technology, and innovation.

Musk has long criticised India for having high import tariffs of around 100% on EVs, and his company has repeatedly lobbied to relax them. The move, however, has faced opposition from local automakers who think Tesla's entry can hit their EV plans.

 

Last year, Musk was set to meet Modi during a trip to India where he was expected to announce a potential $2 billion-$3 billion investment, but the visit was called off after Tesla decided to lay off 10% of its global workforce amid declining sales. 

In November, Reuters reported that Tesla was also scouting for showroom space in the country's capital city of New Delhi, and was in early stage talks with real estate developer DLF to help secure a location. 

(Reporting by Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)