Tesla Inc. has announced that the world’s most valuable electric vehicle company is now hiring in India. Could this be the first step toward Tesla’s in India? According to the job listings on the company’s official LinkedIn page, there are thirteen openings in Mumbai and Delhi. This move comes days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met up at the White House, signifying a critical step for Tesla to enter the Indian market.
13 Tesla job openings in India
This is not the first time Tesla has shown interest in the Indian market, but due to high import duties Musk had decided to put plans on hold. With the Indian Government reducing the customs tariffs on cars above $40,000 from 110 per cent to 70 per cent, this could be the window of opportunity that Tesla has been waiting for.
The new job openings for Tesla in India reveals that the company is focused on setting a customer service division and other back-end operations. The EV company has listed the following openings on its LinkedIn page — Service Technician, Service Manager, Inside Sales Advisor, Customer Support Supervisor, Customer Support Specialist, Order Operations Specialist, Service Advisor, Tesla Advisor, Parts Advisor, Delivery Operations Specialist, Business Operations Analyst and Store Manager.
Tesla-India relationship
Currently, Tesla has not revealed what route the company will take to enter the Indian market. The company could apply for Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SPMEPCI) in which a company has to invest at least Rs 4,150 crore to set up a manufacturing plant in India. Based on this scheme, the company has to localise its components and parts by 25 per cent by the third year and 50 per cent by the fifth year.
In 2022, there was a lot of buzz around Musk visiting India and even talking about the possibility of setting up a manufacturing plant and investments, but it got postponed. This time around, it seems that the company is getting serious about making its debut in the Indian market.
