The Indian government is urging Chinese mobile phone manufacturers to bring on Indian equity partners in their local operations and appoint Indian executives to key roles, according to executives who attended related meetings.

What Happened? In an attempt to boost local manufacturing and level the playing field, companies including Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme, and Vivo were also asked to collaborate with Indian contract manufacturers and broaden local manufacturing, per a Reuters report. This would involve creating joint ventures with Indian businesses and increasing exports from the country.

The government is also asking these companies to follow legal compliance, avoid tax evasion, and incorporate local distributors. This directive arrives amid scrutiny of Chinese smartphone manufacturers for tax evasion and alleged illegal remittances, which has led to the freezing of local bank accounts.

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These points were communicated in recent meetings held by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) with Chinese firms and the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), a manufacturers’ lobby group.

“Companies should leverage local talent and ecosystem, and make India their export and production base. These changes will enable higher value addition in the country and make businesses self-reliant,” said Madhav Seth, Realme’s president of international business in a statement to ET.

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