New Delhi: Leading Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers, such as Huawei and ZTE, are worried over the Indian government clamping down on import of their products due to security reasons and the Chinese government is reported to have taken up the issue with the Indian authorities.

According to sources, the Chinese government has sent a representation on the issue asking for a level playing field for its companies.

However, the Indian authorities have taken the stand that there is no blanket ban on the import of Chinese telecom equipment into the country and any purchases by India's private telecom service providers will be decided on a " case to case basis". The official spokesman of the department of telecommunications (DoT) told Mail Today that there has been no change in the government's position in recent the weeks and the policy that was already in place still stands.

He said the terms on which the license for mobile telecom services issued to Indian companies stipulate that they have to submit details of the equipment they are procuring for their operations. " The proposal is then forwarded to the ministry of home affairs for clearance," he added.

The DoT is reported to have sent a letter to some of the mobile service operators last week that it would take time to clear the purchase of Chinese equipment for their operations as it had to be cleared by the ministry of home affairs.

The home ministry had expressed concern that there was a danger of spyware being embedded in Chinese equipment and this could lead to a security problem for the country.

The government had earlier banned the import of Chinese handsets without IMEI numbers as these instruments could not be tracked. The DoT ban comes as a setback for the Chinese telecom equipment makers as they were doing brisk business in the fast-growing Indian market.

The Chinese equipment carries a lower price tag than their US and European competitors and hence were fast gaining market share in the country.

Huawei India spokesman Suresh Vaidyanathan said the company has not received official communication on this matter.

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