CAIT asks govt to investigate startups with Chinese investors

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Tuesday asked the Indian government to conduct a thorough investigation of Indian startups and manufacturing units that have Chinese companies as lead investors.

The industry body in a letter to the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that a detailed investigation must be conducted into the companies and startups wherein Chinese investors have a big stake to ensure that the “data accrued by these startups is not being transferred to Chinese investors in any way and there is no threat to the security of the country.”

The organisation also provided a comprehensive list of all the startups in the country that have investments from the Chinese firms. The list includes companies such as Flipkart, Paytm Mall, Paytm.com, Swiggy, Ola, Oyo, Zomato, Policybazaar, BigBasket, Delhivery, Make My Trip, Dream 11, Hike, Snapdeal, Udaan, Lenskart, Byjus Classes and Citrus Tech among others. “Chinese companies like Alibaba, Tencent and others are lead investors in many of these startups and as such it is to be ensured that no foul play is taking place under the garb of investment,” CAIT National Secretary General, Praveen Khandelwal wrote in the letter.

Apart from investigating the startups with Chinese investors, the organisation also asked the government to investigate the Chinese companies that have set up manufacturing units in India to ensure that the “data that they have accrued is not either being misused or sent to China.”

The letter came in wake of the government’s decision to ban a total of 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, Shareit and Clash of Titans, in India. The Ministry of Information Technology in its order said that these apps posed a threat to India’s sovereignty, defence and public. CAIT welcomed the move saying that the step would go a long way in strengthening the body’s ‘Boycott China’ campaign.