Another setback for China! No Chinese companies to be allowed in highway projects, says Nitin Gadkari

The Indian government has given another setback to China by announcing that no companies from that country will be allowed to participate in highway projects including through joint ventures. The development was confirmed by Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari in an interview. 

Gadkari’s statement comes days after the Indian government decided to ban as many as 59 Chinese apps in the wake of tension between the soldiers of the two countries at the LAC. These apps include TikTok, WeChat, and UC Browser on grounds that they pose a security threat to the country.

Gadkari who also holds Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises portfolio also said that Chinese will not be entertained in India's burgeoning MSME sector which forms the majority of India's manufacturing sector and accounts for 8% of India's GDP.   

"We will not give permission to joint ventures that have Chinese partners for road construction. We have taken a firm stand that if they (Chinese companies) come via joint venture in our country, we will not allow it," Gadkari told PTI in an interview.

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He added that a policy will be formulated to exclude Chinese firms and relaxing norms for Indian companies to make it easier for them to enter these big-ticket projects. However, the new policy will only pertain to future and ongoing tenders. Previous projects where Chinese companies are already engaged will not be affected, he said.  

"We have taken a decision to relax norms for our companies to ensure that they qualify in bidding in large projects. I have directed the Highways Secretary (Giridhar Aramane) and NHAI Chairman (SS Sandhu) to hold a meeting for relaxing technical and financial norms so that our companies can qualify to work," he said.