China’s Great Wall Motor suspends USD 1 Bn investment plan in India
After failing to get regulatory permits, China's Great Wall Motor has reportedly abandoned its plans to invest USD 1 billion in India and has fired all employees from its Indian facilities. The Chinese automaker had planned to penetrate the Indian market in 2020 and now is facing one of the hardest hits as a result of New Delhi's enhanced scrutiny of Beijing-related investments.
Great Wall mentioned in a statement that it would like to acknowledge with much appreciation of the Indian team for their efforts and promised to keep watching the Indian market and looking for opportunities.
During the nation's biannual auto exhibition in January 2020, Great Wall made a big deal out of its entry plan for India. The Indian market was crucial to the Chinese SUV manufacturer's global expansion aspirations, and it had planned to build the largest production outside of China there.
For those unaware, to prevent aggressive takeovers during the COVID-19 outbreak, New Delhi intensified surveillance of investments from nations with which it shares a land border months after Great Motor started hiring personnel there.
Later that year, a border dispute between China and India exacerbated the crackdown, which has since prevented billions of dollars worth of investments from entering several industries, including the technology and auto sectors.
After informing its employees that it had failed to secure government approval for foreign direct investment to purchase a former General Motors (GM) plant in India, Great Wall sacked approximately a dozen workers at its Indian operation.
According to experts, the fired employees working in departments such as finance, strategy, and marketing will receive three months’ worth of severance pay. Since last year, the company had started to lose patience by transferring some of its workers in August to Brazil and allocated a chunk of the intended USD 1 billion India investment to its business operations in Brazil.
On the other hand, the firm’s research and development center is open and running smoothly in Bangalore, southern India.
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