With work suffereing, Chinese to get faster visas

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In the works: Expeditious visa for Chinese technicians in electronics

It may not be “Hindi Chini bhai bhai” just yet, but the Centre is working out a mechanism to expedite visas to Chinese citizens, mainly technicians and engineers, who are needed to attend to installation and servicing needs of Indian industry who have entered into technical collaboration and/or purchased equipment from the land of the dragon. According to a report by The Economic Times, quick visits by Chinese engineers to install/service their equipment is turning out to be a necessity for the entities under the production linked incentive scheme.

According to the report, the process started this month but visas under this mechanism are yet to materialise.

“An approval process is being put in place, particularly for the PLI beneficiary companies, where the applicant has to fill a detailed form from China, along with the details to be submitted by their partner PLI-granted companies in India. Once these are submitted, the administrative machinery must send a recommendation, after which the visa can be granted,” an industry representative, who wished to remain anonymous, told the newspaper.

Cellphone manufacturers are one of the businesses that are suffering in the absence of prompt visas.

Explaining why expeditious visas are a necessity, Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of India Cellular and Electronics Association said, “Expeditious issuance of business and employment visas are critical for setting up manufacturing capacities and expanding. We are sure that this process will be smoothed and normalised sooner rather than later.” The Chinese administration, too, it is learnt, has started to streamline visas for Indian citizens.

It was reported earlier in the year that nudged by a large section of Indian exporters who are in a hurry with their projects, the commerce and industry ministry would lobby with the external affairs ministry for faster grant of visas to experts from China, often considered as an arch-rival of India in many sectors from geo-political to economic. It was felt that delay in the arrival of engineers from China would push back deadlines of manufacturing units resulting in prolonging of gestation periods that eventually impact the profitability and efficiency of Indian businesses.

However, strained relations between the two Asian giants came in the way with Press Note 3 of 2000 stipulating that a company based in a country that shares land border with India can invest in India only after it bagged a government clearance.

Last week, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in India wrote on social media that in the first half of this calendar year as many as 71,600 visas were granted to Indians travelling to China by all the consular offices and embassy in New Delhi. These visits were for study, tourism, work and even family reunion.

Usually, the ministry of electronics and IT helps electronics companies to obtain visas but there is no overarching policy for visas to Chinese nationals.

Giving an example of such hurdles, an industry executive told the newspaper, “While the government has pushed Chinese handset brands to rope in Indian manufacturers to ramp up local production, the company officials have said they will need to get their people from headquarters to visit the facilities and to do the necessary audits, but none of them are being granted visas.”