Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi, who had earlier sought an exemption from the mandatory 30 per cent local outsourcing norms to set up retails outlets in the country, has now said that they will not be needing that anymore. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary, Ramesh Abhishek told reporters that the company will now ‘Make in India’ to make sure that they involve 30 per cent local sourcing to open retail outlets in the country.
Earlier Xiaomi had written to DIPP seeking waiver since it will be manufacturing in the country and the DIPP had sought more information from Xiaomi to see if there products fall under the ‘cutting-edge’ category. According to foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, the government may relax the sourcing condition for entities undertaking single-brand retailing if they have “cutting-edge” technology and where local sourcing is not feasible.
Apple’s application for waiver of 30 per cent local outsourcing norms has recently been rejected by the government and also in line in LeEco who has sought the same waiver from the government.
Around 25 companies are manufacturing smartphones in the country and more are expected to enter the gamut under the Make in India initiative.
By Atanu Kumar Das
