Xiaomi says not moving operations to Pakistan; denies reports of leaving India

Xiaomi has refuted reports of it leaving India and moving operations to Pakistan as the government freezes its assets. Xiaomi called the report by South Asia Index of moving to Pakistan ‘false and baseless’.

Xiaomi replying to South Asia Index’s tweet said, “This tweet is completely false & baseless. Xiaomi entered India in 2014. In less than a year of our India operations, we embarked on our Make in India journey. 99 per cent of our smartphones and 100 per cent of our TVs are manufactured in India. We’ll take all measures to protect our reputation from false and inaccurate claims.”

The data-driven news handle, South Asia Index had tweeted: “Chinese mobile-maker Xiaomi may move its operations from India to Pakistan after Indian govt freezes its assets worth $676M.

Meanwhile, a Karnataka high court declined to lift a freeze on Xiaomi Corp’s $676 million worth of assets. The Chinese smartphone maker said that this action “effectively halted” its operations in the key Indian market. The Enforcement Directorate froze Xiaomi’s assets in April, alleging illegal remittances that were made to foreign entities by passing them off as royalty payments.

The smartphone maker denied the allegations and challenged the order at a Karnataka high court, stating that the punishment was “severely disproportionate” to the allegations. The court told the company that it must provide bank guarantees covering the $676 million in assets that are frozen first.

Xiaomi said that depositing such bank guarantees would make it difficult for the company to pay salaries, make inventory purchases ahead of Diwali, and continue its functions at a time when consumer sales shoot up in the country. BusinessToday