India denies issuing notice to Huawei over violation of labour rules

By Li Weitao (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-28 07:04

The Indian government Wednesday denied it had sent a notice to Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies accusing it of violating the country's labor and employment regulations.

The denial comes a day after Indian media reported that the country's Ministry of Labor and Employment had sent a warning notice to Huawei, accusing it of "employing Chinese workers in India without proper work permits in large numbers, much beyond the permissible limits".

The ministry Wednesday issued an official statement, saying "no such notice had been issued", according to India's leading business newspaper Business Standard.

Huawei confirmed it had received a notice but doubted the authenticity of the document. It denied any wrongdoing.

Huawei employs 1,100 people in Delhi and Mumbai.

"Of these, less than 200 are expatriate workers, mostly from China, who are here on business in India and hold the necessary business visas," the company said in a statement to China Daily.

The firm said it "has been complying with Indian laws" since entering the country.

It is still unclear who sent the notice to Huawei in the name of India's Ministry of Labor and Employment.

The accusation, which could have damaged Huawei's reputation, underlines the increasing difficulties Chinese companies face when expanding to overseas markets.

For example, Chinese PC maker Lenovo, after acquiring IBM's PC-making business, lost a contract with the US government after Congress expressed security concerns.

For the same reason, Huawei was forced to abandon a bid to buy US network technology firm 3Com even after agreed to divest a unit of 3Com, which sells security software to the US government.

Huawei is one of the largest Chinese investors in India, but its Chinese employees have long faced visa restrictions by the Indian government.

They are required to return to China every three months to reapply for work visas.