ComMin seeks details on Chinese telecom equipment from DoT

Amid protests by Chinese telecom firms, which are reportedly facing a ban on their equipment due to security concerns, the Commerce Ministry is understood to have sought details from the Telecom Ministry on the issue.

The step was taken after a Chinese diplomat met Commerce Ministry officials and asked them to ensure that no non-tariff barriers were imposed to ban import of telecom equipment.

DoT is expected to provide the details soon, an official said.

Although there is no ban on purchase of equipment from Chinese telecom firms, industry sources said that the government is not approving orders from these vendors due to security concerns.

The equipment of two Chinese telecom companies, ZTE and Huwaei Technologies, had evoked security concerns in India.

BSNL’s tender for GSM, worth Rs 36,000 crore, had allegedly not received sanction from the Prime Minister’s Office six months ago, following an alert from security agencies on the participation of Chinese companies.

However, the government said that India's norms on foreign telecom companies doing business here were not loaded against China, and every proposal was being decided on a case-by-case basis.

Meanwhile, India also asked for clarifications, besides additional information, from ZTE on the issue of security clearance for their equipment.

Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan had met Union Home Secretary G K Pillai on the issue yesterday.