INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Chinese shipments have been held back at portsIndia's additional scrutiny of imports from China has disrupted operations at plants owned
by Apple supplier Foxconn in southern India, three sources told Reuters, and other foreign firms are also facing delays as tensions between
Himalayan border last month
The checks have been imposed without any formal order.While several companies such as Apple and Dell have been battling to free stuck
shipments, hundreds of employees at Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn's two plants in the south had no major work to do this week as
shipments were delayed, sources said.More than 150 Foxconn shipments - containing smartphone and electronic parts - were stuck at the port
of Chennai, though some are being cleared slowly now, the first source said
The total number of parts in the shipments was not clear.Foxconn's two plants in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh mainly assemble Apple and
Xiaomi smartphones in the country and employ thousands of workers, many of whom stay in company-provided accommodation."Foxconn was in a
very bad state lots of workers stayed at the dormitory because there was no work," said the first source.Foxconn, Apple and Xiaomi did not
respond to Reuters queries.The finance ministry also did not respond
Two officials at the ministry, which oversees the customs department, said the inspection measures were temporary and will ease soon."We
one official.While the exact impact of the disruptions is not immediately clear, the delays come when companies in India had already been
battling disrupted supply chains due to coronavirus shutdowns in recent months
Business activity has only just begun to pick up.Prominent US-India lobby groups and local industry bodies have urged the Indian government
to intervene.While some delayed Dell shipments have been cleared since last week, the company had roughly 130 shipments stuck this week at
Indian ports, the second source said
This included around six shipping containers with parts for servers and desktop computers, the person added.Dell did not respond to a
request for comment.Separately, MG Motor, owned by China's SAIC, also has some shipments stuck at a port in southern India, a source close
to the company told Reuters
MG started selling cars in India last year and has committed $650 million in investments."The whole (auto) industry will be impacted if
components are stuck," the source said.MG Motor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.China's Commerce Ministry said on
Thursday that it hoped India would correct its discriminatory actions against Chinese companies immediately, after India banned some Chinese
mobile apps amid the border crisis.(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated
