Process for streamlining visa approvals for Chinese professionals framed

The government has formulated a standard operating procedure for streamlining visa approvals for Chinese professionals whose expertise is required by vendors under the PLI scheme, an official said on Wednesday.

Some players had flagged the visa issue in a stakeholder consultation meeting on the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in August.

The government at that time stated that it was trying to sort out visa-related matters where vendors require Chinese professionals' expertise.

"We have resolved the visa issue in the sense that we have created an SOP (standard operating procedure) for PLI units. For their visas, we have a system under which their visa approvals will be streamlined," the official said.

The PLI scheme was announced in 2021 for 14 sectors such as telecommunication, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones and pharma with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore.