After a Decade-Long Wait, Tesla Starts Hiring in India

Just days after Elon Musk met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tesla is ramping up its hiring efforts in the country.

On its careers page, Tesla advertised thirteen positions located in Mumbai. Monday, the corporation also posted the openings on their LinkedIn profile.

Positions fall into one of three broad categories: sales and customer support, operations and business support, or vehicle servicing.

The jobs, which include both full- and part-time positions, are advertised as being located in the Mumbai suburbs.

The ads also gave hints that Tesla might open a store and a shipping centre in India. As an example, the job description for “Store Manager” states that the new employee will be “responsible for overseeing and driving sales and sales operations.”

People can also apply to work for Tesla in the delivery operations department. The person holding this position is supposed to “oversee and coordinate administrative responsibilities at the delivery centre.”

On Thursday, Musk and Modi met in Washington. The Indian prime minister met with Trump on his two-day visit to the United States.

It is not clear whether the conversation between Modi and Musk included a discussion of Tesla’s entry into the Indian market. After a “very good meeting” with Tesla’s CEO, Modi wrote about it in Thursday’s X post.

“We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology, and innovation,” the prime minister said.

Had a very good meeting with @elonmusk in Washington DC. We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.’ pic.twitter.com/7xNEqnxERZ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 13, 2025

While Trump admitted he didn’t know Musk’s motivation for meeting with Modi, he did say that Musk “wants to do business in India.”

No one from Tesla was available to comment when reached out to them.

For nearly ten years, Tesla has plotted its entry into the Indian market. The firm began taking vehicle pre-orders in April 2016.

Next, in January 2021, Tesla established a presence in India by registering a corporation. This came shortly after Nitin Gadkari, the country’s minister of transport, said that Tesla would begin operations in early 2021. In terms of vehicle sales, India ranks third globally.

However, such intentions were temporarily halted. It was challenging for Tesla to enter the Indian market, according to Musk’s July 2021 statement, since “import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country.”

We want to do so, but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country!

Moreover, clean energy vehicles are treated the same as diesel or petrol, which does not seem entirely consistent with the climate goals of India.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2021

“Still working through a lot of challenges with the government,” Musk wrote in an X post in January 2022 in response to a question about whether Tesla was still aiming to debut in India.

Still working through a lot of challenges with the government

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2022

Companies that promise to invest $500 million or more and begin manufacturing electric vehicles in India within three years were eligible for a reduction in import tariffs in March.

While in India in April, Musk was supposed to make the announcement about Tesla’s entry into the Indian market. But the excursion was canceled last minute.

“Unfortunately, very heavy Tesla obligations require that the visit to India be delayed, but I do very much look forward to visiting later this year,” Musk said in a post on X in April.