CAIT urges govt to probe Chinese investments in Indian startups

Traders' body CAIT on Sunday urged the government to order an investigation into Chinese investments in Indian startups to determine their investment control in these firms.

In a letter to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) shared a list of 141 prominent Indian startups claiming they have significant Chinese investments.

These Indian firms relate to sectors including hospitality, food delivery, IT, logistics, payment applications, e-commerce travel, transport, pharmaceuticals, insurance, share market, healthcare, eye care, play applications and others.

"It looks like a planned strategy by various Chinese companies to acquire vital data of Indian people and an exercise in the direction to dominate various Indian economic centres by virtue of their investments.

Therefore, an immediate direction for an in-depth investigation into the working and business module of Indian startups covering the above mentioned concerns is all the more necessary," the CAIT said in the letter.

It also suggested that any future overseas investment should be through government route and not through automatic route.