Chinese say projects awaiting India’s nod

China remains hopeful of securing investment approval for its firms looking to invest in India even as the two continue to share a testy political relationship due to border tensions, people aware of the development said. While Indian officials said in January that pending foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals from China are at their lowest, Chinese diplomats said many Chinese investment proposals in India await approval.

“There are still many applications for Chinese investment in India submitted for a long time, waiting for the approval of the Indian government,” these diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

It is unclear if the Chinese authorities have formally raised the matter with India.

Queries sent to the ministries of commerce and external affairs, and the Chinese embassy in New Delhi remained unanswered. This comes after the Union government in April 2020 made prior approval mandatory for foreign investments from countries that share a land border with India. The move was seen as an attempt to curb opportunistic bids to take over local companies.

Indian government regulations —under Press Note 3 —requires all investments from entities based in countries that share land borders, or when the beneficial owner of the investment is based in these nations, to be made under the ‘approval route’ and require a security clearance.

Mint reported in February last year that pendency of investment proposals from bordering states were brought to 60 from 170 in just four months. The specific figures for Chinese investment proposals were not given.