The CEO of Indian food delivery giant Zomato has sparked a public debate by advertising a chief of staff job with an unusual twist: there will be no salary initially and the position instead comes with a Rs 20 lakh ($23,700) 'fee'.

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal late on Wednesday sought 'down-to-earth' candidates on social media, stating that besides being down-to-earth, they must also have 'Grade A communication skills' and be willing to help build Zomato, its quick delivery business Blinkit and other verticals.

But the job will have no salary in the first year and requires the person to instead pay a $23,700 fee for what the CEO described as an 'opportunity' with '10x more learnings than a 2-year degree from a top management school'.

However, Goyal reassured candidates that the chief of staff position would attract an annual salary of at least Rs 5 lakh ($60,000) from the second year if things work out.

The unusual call got both bouquets and brickbats on LinkedIn and X, with some business executives and users saying the move will provide a steep learning curve, better than an MBA course, while others criticized it for creating a barrier for ambitious candidates who can't afford the 'fee'.

"Love the creativity, but it automatically excludes ambitious, hungry folks who don't have that kind of money (middle class)", wrote Deepak Singh, who has previously worked at Walmart's Flipkart, on LinkedIn.

Aparna Mittal, an expert on diversity and inclusion, wrote on the platform: "This looks like a case of the privileged creating opportunities for the privileged only".

However, tech programmer Arnav Gupta welcomed the unusual job offer: "If you're looking for a career in management consulting/strategy, this is worth waaaay more".

Zomato did not answer a request to comment on the reactions to his posts, which have gained more than 5 million views.

Goyal is credited with building Zomato into India's biggest food delivery company, which is fast expanding into quick commerce, a shopping rage where groceries are being delivered in 10 minutes. Zomato's share price has more than doubled this year, valuing the company at more than $28 billion