Raising a big question on Chinese investments in many Indian startups, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) sent a letter on Sunday to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, demanding an investigation into Chinese investments in 141 prominent startups in India. The letter said that from the way Chinese companies have invested in Indian companies in different sectors, it is clear that China is making a strategic move to capture Indian innovation and technology.
With regard to the same, CAIT has sent Goyal a list of 141 major Indian startups which have Chinese investments. These Indian companies are related to hospitality, daily consumables, food distribution, information technology, logistics, payment apps, e-commerce, travel, transportation, pharmaceuticals, insurance, stock market, health care, eye care, sports apps, etc. According to this list, Chinese companies have grabbed multiple important sectors of the economy for investment purposes.
CAIT national chairman B.C. Bhartia and national general secretary Praveen Khandelwal told The Daily Guardian, “We demand an inquiry into these companies and the inquiry should be based on a number of relevant questions, including the ratio of control, mainly by Chinese investment in Indian companies. How much is it, whether the data acquired by these companies are in India or abroad, what are the data security and precautions, are any Indian start-ups using Chinese technology and if so, do they have any underlying spy technology?”
Bhartia and Khandelwal also said that it is a well-known fact that China spies on many countries of the world in various ways. It uses a variety of tactics, including cyber espionage, to gain access to remote, sensitive intelligence. China is also engaged in financial and industrial espionage for the purpose of gathering information to strengthen its economy, as well as monitoring dissatisfaction abroad. Numerous cases of computer intrusion, suspected to be Chinese intrusion, have been found in various countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and France. Information available in the public information system also states that China has many new ways to steal innovation through multiple methods — through not only the Chinese intelligence services but also through state-owned enterprises, private companies and some types of graduate students.
It has also been said that the Chinese not only target innovation and research development, but also strategise to acquire cost and pricing information, internal strategy documents, etc — anything which can give China a competitive advantage by investing. Given the current situation between India and China, or even otherwise, the above questions are of great importance. The manner in which investments are made by Chinese companies is necessary to understand to find out the real truth behind such investments. There is a strategy employed by various Chinese companies towards dominating the important data of Indian people and Indian economic centres. Hence, there is a great need to deeply examine the functioning and business modules of Indian startups working in various fields. The CAIT also suggested that any Chinese investment in any Indian enterprise should be made public.