Indian Govt is reluctant to allow Xiaomi to open its own stores in India

As reported earlier, Xiaomi had applied for single brand retail licence, in order to be able to set up single brand showrooms in India as per new FDI rules. However, the application has been put on hold by the Indian government, and the Chinese handset maker has been asked to provide more documents to support its application.

Also read: Samsung to soon apply for single-brand retail licence in India

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will forward the said application to the "cutting edge panel" only when the company submits all the details that are to be considered for exempting it from the 30% sourcing norm, a senior government official told ET.

"We are in constant discussion with the department for small clarifications, and have not met any major obstacles to date. We are unable to comment further on the specifics of the application as it is still being processed," Xiaomi's spokesperson said.

Xiaomi had wanted that it be allowed to forego the 30% sourcing norm for a range of products, including Wi-Fi amplifiers, Bluetooth speakers and power banks, placing them under the "state-of-theart" technology category.

Also read: Government could waive off the 30% sourcing norm for Apple to open stores in India

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