Report: Govt awarded Rs 500 crore strategic BSNL order to China despite FDI restrictions

Despite India’s apparent economic blockade of China post-Galwan, a crucial project of BSNL was awarded to a China-based company linked to ZTE, according to a report by The Indian Express.

A tender worth around Rs 500 crore to create new systems around BSNL’s call data records, was awarded to a company called Whale Cloud Technology, which was routed to it through Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd In early 2020, the report said quoting a senior government official.

Months before the tensions began at the border with China, the Central government had tightened its foreign direct investment policy in order to scrutinise Chinese investments in India.

After the skirmish at Galwan Valley in Ladakh which led to a bloody clash on June 15, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, the government had barred BSNL and MTNL from using Chinese equipment for the roll-out of its 4G network.