Tesla hiring in India: Is Musk's Tesla setting up shop in Mumbai?

Days after Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the U.S., the world’s largest electric car maker has begun hiring for at least 13 positions in Mumbai, including for a store manager role which would be based in Mumbai and Delhi.

The company is hiring for roles such as consumer engagement manager, order operations specialist, customer support specialist, service manager, sales adviser, business operations analyst, service technician, and parts adviser among others.

It is, however, unclear whether the world’s most valuable carmaker is applying for the government’s Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SPMEPCI) which slashes import duty to 15% from 100% for EVs with cost, insurance and freight value of $35,000 or more. Critics of the scheme had argued that it was tailor-made for Tesla, which has yet to commit any investment under the scheme.

Under the new policy, automakers are required to invest at least ₹4,150 crore or $500 million to set up a new EV manufacturing facility in India within three years. A localisation of 25% is to be achieved by the third year and 50% by the fifth year. The duty foregone on the total number of EVs allowed for import would be limited to the investment made or ₹6,484 crore (equal to incentive under the PLI scheme). A maximum of 40,000 EVs at the rate of not more than 8,000 per year would be permissible if the investment is $800 million or more. The carryover of unutilised annual import limits is permitted. The investment commitment made by the company will have to be backed up by a bank guarantee in lieu of the custom duty forgone. The bank guarantee will be invoked in case of non-achievement of DVA and minimum investment criteria defined under the scheme guidelines.

In June 2023, Musk said he is confident that Tesla will be in India as soon as humanly possible. “I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his support and hopefully we will be able to announce something in the not-so-distant future. We don’t want to jump the gun on an announcement but I think it is quite likely that there will be a significant investment in our relationship with India,” Musk said.

The world’s richest man said he is incredibly excited about the future of India. “I think India has more promise than any large country in the world,” he said. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi really cares about India because he is pushing us to make significant investments in India which is something that we intend to do,” the Tesla CEO had said.