Chinese Technician Visa for Non-PLI Beneficiaries

NEW DELHI: The government is considering granting visas to Chinese PLI technicians/workers who are not eligible for Production Linked Incentives (PLI) schemes. It has already decided to allow Chinese nationals in India to work for companies that are eligible for Production Linked Incentives (PLI) schemes.

Rajesh Kumar Singh, secretary, Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), told a press conference that the department is also working on streamlining the visa process for strategic sectors that do not have PLI benefits.

“We are in the process of developing a similar streamlined process for non-PLI companies as well. The final decision is yet to be taken, but we are moving in that direction and hope it will happen,” the DPIIT secretary said.

He added that the department has already developed a streamlined process for PLI beneficiaries and the government is looking to extend the PLI scheme to non-PLI beneficiaries operating in the same strategic sectors.

“Since companies availing PLI benefits are provided with subsidy and visa relaxation, the rest are also expected to benefit from streamlined visa granting process, if not subsidy,” the secretary said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs will take the final decision, Singh said. Industries have requested the government to relax the visa process for Chinese technicians and workers in India as there is a significant skill gap in the country. The government had earlier agreed to relax visa norms for Chinese workers in sectors availing PLI benefits. Now, the government is also considering extending the relaxed visa norms to strategic sectors not covered by PLI.

Asked if the government is considering the demands of the sectors to extend the PLI scheme, the DPIIT secretary said that consultations are always on and the demands of the industry to extend the PLI scheme are always there. “However, we cannot announce the sectors until the government finalises anything in this regard,” he said.

In response to industry demands for abolition of angel tax, the secretary said the DPIIT had recommended to the government to abolish the tax and now the Finance Ministry has to consider the recommendation.

Visa for Chinese workers and technicians

DPIIT said it is working on visa process for strategic sectors that do not have PLI benefits

It has already been decided that Chinese nationals in India can work in companies eligible for PLI schemes

Industries have requested the government to ease the visa process for Chinese technicians and workers in India

The government is seeking to extend the PLI scheme to non-PLI beneficiaries who are operating in the same strategic sectors

The final decision will be made by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

DPIIT said it has recommended the government to abolish angel tax

“I haven’t heard from Tesla since Musk’s last tweet”

The government has not heard anything from Tesla about its plans to invest in India after its promoter Elon Musk’s last tweet in April this year. “The tweet after the elections is the last tweet the government has heard from Tesla,” the DPIIT secretary said. Musk had tweeted at the time: “Congratulations @narendramodi on winning the world’s largest democratic election! Looking forward to the exciting work my companies are doing in India,” Musk said in a post on X. ENS