“The portal started last week only. It is to streamline the process where business visas will be given to Chinese technicians in the PLI sector,” the official said, without sharing the number of applications received on the portal till now.
The portal will fast track visa applications of non-beneficiary companies operating in the 14 PLI schemes. Home affairs ministry officials have held a meeting with various departments to sensitise and train them on how the portal is to be used, the official said.
The move assumes significance as some domestic manufacturing firms have flagged the issue of delay in getting visas for Chinese technicians, who are required for works like installation or repair of certain machines, besides training workers in India. Usually, these experts require a visa for 3-6 months for works like installation of machines and training the workforce to use those machines.
However, at present, it takes 4-5 months to process a visa application. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had taken up the issue with the external affairs ministry. The ?1.97 lakh-crore PLI scheme covers 14 sectors, including mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, white goods, telecommunications, textiles, automobiles, drones and specialty steel. In 2020, amid heightened border tensions with China, India had made prior approval mandatory for foreign investments from countries that share a land border with the country through the Press Note 3, and started much stricter scrutiny of visa applications from China.
India received only $2.5 billion foreign direct investments (FDI) from China between April 2000 and March 2024. Besides rolling out PLI schemes, India has also imposed mandatory quality control norms, to reduce dependence on Chinese goods.