A request by China’s Huawei Technologies for a license that would allow it to bid on state telecommunications projects in India has met with opposition from certain sections of the government on security grounds, according to a report Tuesday in The Times of India.
A request by China’s Huawei Technologies for a license that would allow it to bid on state telecommunications projects in India has met with opposition from certain sections of the government on security grounds, according to a report Tuesday in The Times of India .
Huawei applied to the Indian government in March for a license that would allow it to bid on telecommunications projects from India’s large, government-controlled telecommunications services companies, Gong Wenhe, director of business development at Huawei Technologies India, told IDG News Service on Wednesday.
According to the report in The Times of India , the government is evaluating the risks of exposing strategic Indian telecom networks to the Chinese, because of fears that China could attack India’s communications networks should relations between the countries deteriorate.
Indian government officials were not available to comment on the newspaper report.
Although China and India have come closer politically in recent years, and Indian software outsourcing companies have set up operations in China, the two countries have a long-standing border dispute, which led to a war between them in 1962.
The license would allow Huawei’s India subsidiary, Huawei Technologies India, to bid for telecommunications projects in India, including installation and maintenance work. The subsidiary, in Gurgaon, near Delhi, is currently a sales and marketing operation that sells equipment to service providers in the country.
“Our application is still pending,” said Gong, who added that Huawei had not received any communication from the government about its apprehensions over security concerns. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in Delhi, which processes foreign investment proposals, has met a number of times since Huawei submitted its proposal.
Huawei has sold equipment to private and government-controlled telecom service providers in the country. However, in the case of the large, government-controlled service providers such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the regulations require Huawei to partner with a local firm if it wants to implement and maintain projects.
If the license request before the government is cleared, Huawei would be able to bid directly for telecommunications projects from government-controlled service providers, according to Gong.
By doing project work directly, rather than through implementation partners, Huawei would be able to cut its costs, offer better prices to customers and generate employment in the country, Gong said.
The company already has an R&D center in Bangalore, which employs over 900 staff. Set up in 1999, the center was the first set up in India by a Chinese technology company.
Huawei has announced plans to invest $100 million in India to expand the R&D center and to set up a manufacturing facility in Bangalore. The facility will be operational later this year, Gong said.
