Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor plans to enter the Indian market from 2020 but has now become one of the biggest casualties of New Delhi’s growing scrutiny of investments from Beijing.
Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor plans to enter the Indian market from 2020 but has now become one of the biggest casualties of New Delhi’s growing scrutiny of investments from Beijing.
China’s Great Wall Motor plans to shut down Invest $1 billion in India and laid off all employees after its operation failed to obtain regulatory approvalThree sources having direct knowledge of the matter gave this information on Friday.
The Chinese automaker is planning to enter the Indian market from 2020 but has now become one of the biggest casualties of New Delhi. Increased scrutiny of investments from Beijing,
Without commenting directly on the exit, a statement from Great Wall said the company would like to “thank all members of the Indian team for their contributions”, adding that it will continue to study the Indian market and continue to study the future. I will look for opportunities.
Major Markets for the Great Wall
Great Wall’s India entry plan was announced with much fanfare during the country’s biennial auto show in January 2020. India was a key market for the Chinese SUV maker’s global expansion plans and the company envisioned a plant that would be its largest outside China.
Months after Great Motor began hiring employees in India, New Delhi increased scrutiny of investments from countries with which it shares a land border to prevent opportunistic takeovers during the COVID-19 pandemic .
The action deepened after a border conflict between India and China late that year, which halted billions of dollars in capital flows into the auto and technology sectors.
Dozens of employees laid off
Sources who declined to be named said Great Wall fired about a dozen employees at its Indian business on Friday after it told the government it was seeking foreign direct investment from the government to buy a former General Motors (GM) plant. Failed to get approval. in country.
Earlier on Friday, Great Wall and GM scrapped the plant deal, drawing a line as part of a two-year initiative. A Government of India spokesperson could not immediately be contacted for comment outside regular business hours.
The fired employees were working on the company’s plan to enter India in departments including finance, strategy and marketing, with two sources saying they are to be given three months’ severance pay.
The Great Wall’s patience was waning from last year. In August it allocated a portion of its planned $1 billion India investment to Brazil and reassigned some of its workforce.
The company’s research and development center in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru is operating normally, it told Reuters earlier on Friday.