India Holds Up Approvals for China made Wi-Fi modules and delaying launches

 

India has held up approvals for the import of Wi-Fi modules from china for months. Ongoing driving companies such as U.S. computer makers like Dell, Hp and China’s Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Lenovo to delay product launches in a key growth, two industry sources said.

Containing Wi-Fi modules are being delayed of Imports from China of finished electronic devices like Bluetooth speakers, wireless earphones, smartphones, smartwatches and laptops.

The Communications Ministry's Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) Wing has withheld approval since last November. According to sources, who were familiar with lobbying efforts by firms attempt to finding clearance.

More than 80 such firm applications by the U.S., Chinese and Korean have been pending with the WPC since then. Even applications from some Indian firms, which bring in some finished products from China, are awaiting WPC approval, the sources said.

The firms like Dell, Hp, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Lenovo did not respond to requests from comments.

Either, the Communications minister did not respond to a request for comment. And both sources said the government had still to respond to representations made by industry lobby companies and individual companies.   

The call for greater economic self-reliance is come amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s for India’s hard stance on Chinese imports.

Narendra Modi’s nationalist policies have helped boost the growth of smartphone assembly in South Asian Nations. And the sources believe the government’s intention is to make companies locate more of their production electronic devices in India.

The government is working to push companies to manufacture these products in India.

But, may tech companies are caught in a difficult situation. By making in  India would mean Big-investments and a long wait for returns. As well as on another side the government imposed a hurdle to imports takes a potential loss of revenues.

Previously, the government made a move that allowed companies to self-declare wireless equipment, this made imports easier. But new rules in March 2019 mandated firms to look for government approval.

India’s market and export growths have turned it into the World’s second-biggest mobile maker and tech analysts. But experts says India does not have a size or scale for companies to invest big in making IT products and smart wearable devices.