New Delhi, May 12 (Inditop.com) ZTE India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp, is looking at various options, from setting up a manufacturing plant to listing on the stock markets, to prove itself an “Indian company” and abide by all Indian security norms.
“We believe we are an Indian company with Indians in top management and as our employees. But yes, if you go by the definition of an Indian company where Indians have stake, then we are planning to prove on that front also,” said D.K. Ghosh, ZTE India Chairman and Managing Director.
“We are looking at setting up an equipment manufacturing facility in the country. We are examining the viability. Over the next few months, we also plan to bring in Indian investors and later, we will also list the company on Indian stock exchanges, but things will take time,” Ghosh told IANS.
The company claims that 90 percent of its headcount of 2,300 people are Indians.
“Our total headcount is 2,300. Of this, 90 percent are Indians. We will continue to hire as per our requirement. By this year end, we plan to take it up to 3,000. Of this, we hope that more than 90 percent will be Indians,” he said.
On the curbs on the import of Chinese telecom equipment to India, Ghosh said: “We have no formal communication but what we have learnt from telecom operators is that certain companies, including ZTE, have not met the security tests.”
“We offer our full cooperation to the Indian government. We fully understand and respect their security concerns and we will adhere to the security norms, policies and requirements of the government,” he said.
Due to the security clearance issue, about $200-300 million worth of orders, to be placed by Indian operators with various telecom equipment makers, may have been stalled, Ghosh added.
The company’s top honchos are meeting senior officials in different ministries and will meet Home Secretary G.K. Pillai Thursday to resolve the issues.
The company, which had $1.5 billion order book last year, has got no orders for the last four months. “It has been a dull period. But we hope to recover,” said Ghosh.
ZTE Corp Executive vice president Fan Qingfeng said: “More than 10 percent of our revenues come from India. It is a big market for us outside China. We are ready to pass all security tests.”
ZTE India has a manufacturing facility in Manesar, Haryana, which is more into repairs, maintenance and logistics. It imports telecom equipment and handsets from China.
It has two engineering centres and an R&D centre with main office located in Gurgaon.
The Chinese equipment are cheaper than what the US and European companies offer. Almost all telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone and state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd import equipment from Chinese suppliers, including ZTE.
