New Delhi: Despite asserting that anti-China sentiment was mainly limited to social media, Xiaomi -- it appears fearing a backlash amid the India-China stand-off -- has begun covering its retail store branding with the Made in India logo in white colour, the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) said on Thursday.
The action came after the association sent a letter to all the Chinese mobile brands to bring the "ground reality" to their notice.
Anti-China sentiment stirred up in the country following the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers in a clash with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Ladakh's Galwan valley on June 15.
"Mi (Xiaomi) has started putting 'Made in India' banners in white colour on its boards," Arvinder Khurana, National President, AIMRA, told IANS on Thursday.
When contacted, Xiaomi declined to officially comment on the development.
In its letter, AIMRA requested the Chinese mobile phone brands to "allow retailers to cover these signages with cloth/flex or to remove the boards from the storefront for a few months".
The association of the mobile retailers pointed out that anti-social activists had recently visited several markets in Mumbai, Agra, Jabalpur and Patna and damaged the signages of Chinese brands.
"We sent the letter to ensure safety and security of our members and their stores. We have seen a little aggression in the market places," Khurana said, adding that certain organisations have given retailers one week time to remove Chinese branding from their stores.
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"We thought this could be a threat in the coming time if the aggression goes up. We are worried about the safety of retailers. What will happen if stores are set on fire, or if items of the stores are stolen or the retailers suffer physical injury?," he said.
AIMRA said it had requested all Chinese brands including OPPO, Vivo, OnePlus, Motorola, Realme, Lenovo and Huawei to remove boards from the store front.
Damage to the boards displaying Chinese branding should not be the retailer's liability, it said.
"So we have written to the brands, requesting them to remove the branding. It so happens that some brands give retailers some margin because of the branding. In other situations, some brands have taken heavy security deposits from retailers to put their boards," Khurana said.
"We are requesting that if tomorrow some boards get damaged, the security deposit of retailers should not be forfeited or they should not be made to pay for it," he added.
Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain tweeted last week that Xiaomi is "more Indian" than any other smartphone brand in the country.
In an interview to news channel CNBC-TV18 last week, Jain said that anti-China sentiment was limited mainly to social media and it had not impacted Xiaomi's business in the country.
'Adverse' customs actions hit supplies to India's mobile industry
Amid the rising chorus for boycotting Chinese products and the government's proactive steps to lower dependence on imports, India's growing mobile and electronics industry seems to be at the receiving end of the sudden aversion to imports from the northern neighbour.
In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) has said that all China-origin imports of the electronics industry have come under adverse action by the customs at the ports without prior warning, which has impacted the supply chain.
"There was refusal to clear followed by delays, and now, talk about 100 per cent examination. The logistics of seamless movement is in total disarray," ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo wrote in the letter.
In another letter to Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Secretary, Department for Revenue, and Ajit Kumar, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), ICEA has noted that there is an across the board system delay in assigning DoE numbers, and queries are being raised for regular materials and all shipments are being subjected to open examination, including opening of each box and repacking, among other issues.
ICEA noted that essential parts, components and accessories required for manufacturing in the 200 plus factories which came up following the adoption of 'Make in India', 'Digital India' and 'Phased Manufacturing Programme' (PMP) in the mobile industry have been impacted.
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The industry body raised concerns in the letter to the FM that if the supply chain is broken, there will be severe shortage of essential communication equipment such as smartphones, tablets and laptops required for the health network, work-from home and online education, since alternative supplies are not available in the local and global markets amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Mohindroo noted that these goods are contributing valuable customs duty and IGST to the Central and state exchequers.
He also mentioned that companies have received word from Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi airports about the new examination procedure for all China origin consignments of being subject to 100 per cent examination, and urged the FM that the 100 per cent examination of only China origin goods be stopped so that the supply chain moves without hurdles.
"There are enough checks on inputs in the system, and there is little likelihood of any danger from China origin imports. Of course, dumping actions have to be checked, and this is best done by the law," he said.
(IANS Report)
