Commerce ministry queries telecom ministry on China ban

With Chinese telecom equipment firms fretting over the apparent ban on their equipment due to security concerns, the commerce ministry is understood to have sought details from the telecommunications 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, according to a PTI report.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) is expected to provide the details to the commerce ministry soon, the agency quoted an unnamed official as saying.

Although there is no official ban on purchase of equipment from Chinese telecom firms, industry sources say that the government is not approving orders from these vendors due to security concerns. Two Chinese telecom companies, ZTE and Huwaei Technologies, are particularly affected.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd's tender for GSM equipment worth Rs36,000 crore had allegedly not received sanction from the prime minister's office six months ago, following an alert from security agencies.

However, the government recently 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.