India may not bar Chinese smartphones below Rs 12,000: IT Minister

Smartphone companies like Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and others can finally breathe a sigh of relief as India currently has no plans to ban the sale of phones below Rs 12,000. Instead, the government has reportedly asked smartphone manufacturers to increase exports from India. In addition, no proposals were made to ban the sale of smartphones below Rs 12,000, union information and technology minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar revealed.

The IT minister further added that although Indian companies have a crucial role in the country's electronic ecosystem, this does not mean that foreign brands should be excluded to make way for Indian companies.

"Only issue that we have raised and done very transparently with some of the Chinese brands is that we have said that our expectation is that they will do more exports, '' Chandrashekhar told the PTI. "Their supply chain, specially components supply chain, need to be more transparent and much more open... (On) the other narrative about crowding them out from a particular segment (sub-Rs 12,000) of the market, we don't have any proposal, and I am not sure where it came from," he added.

Previously, Livemint claimed that India plans to ban the sale of Chinese smartphones below Rs 12,000 in the country to boost sales of local brands like Jio, Lava, Micromax and others. However, the government has denied the claims for now. Interestingly, Chinese smartphone companies currently dominate the sub-12,000 segment in India.

The government is keeping a close eye on Chinese companies, and the recent raids on Oppo and Xiaomi are testimony to the fact that the companies are under the scanner. Recently, the offices of some Chinese smartphone manufacturers were raided and even charged by the ED over alleged tax evasion.