India Sex to Restrict Chinese Smartphone Makers From Selling Devices Cheaper Than 12,000 Rupees ($ 150) to kickstart its faltering domestic industry, dealing a blow to brands including xiaomi corp. The move is aimed at pushing chinese giants out of the lower segment of the world’s second -the biggest cellphone, according to people who are familiar with this problem. This coincides with increased concerns about high volume brands such as Realme and Transction which weakens local producers, they said, asking not to be identified discussing sensitive issues.

The exception of the Indian entry-level market will injure Xiaomi and its colleagues, who in recent years have increasingly relying on India to encourage the growth of their home market to bear a series of Covid-19 locks that paralyze consumption. Smartphones under $ 150 contribute to one third of India’s sales volume for the quarter until June 2022, with Chinese companies contributing up to 80% of the shipping, according to a market random.

Xiaomi’s shares extended losses in the last minutes of trade in Hong Kong on Monday. It launched 3.6%, extending their decline this year to more than 35%. It is unclear whether the Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce any policy or use informal channels to convey preferences to Chinese companies, people said.

New Delhi has experienced a Chinese company operating in the country, such as Xiaomi and rival Oppo and Vivo, to cover their financial supervision, which has led to tax demands and money laundering accusations. The government had previously used an unofficial method to prohibit telecommunications equipment Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. Although there is no official policy that prohibits Chinese network equipment, wireless operators are encouraged to buy alternatives.

This step should not affect Apple Inc. Or Samsung Electronics Co., the price of their mobile phones is higher. Representatives from Xiaomi, Realme and Transction did not respond to requests for comments. A spokesman from the Indian Ministry of Technology also did not respond to Bloomberg News questions.

India increased pressure on Chinese companies in the summer of 2020 after more than a dozen Indian army died after a clash between two nuclear-armed neighbors on the disputed Himalayan border. Since then it has banned more than 300 applications, including Tencent Holdings Ltd. Wechat and Tiktok Bytedance Ltd., as a relationship between the two countries that are in a focused.

Homegrown companies such as lava and micromax consist of half of the sale of Indian smart phones before newcomers from neighboring countries interfere with the market with cheap devices and are rich in features.

Chinese smartphone players now sell most of the devices in India, but their market dominance is not yet “based on free and fair competition,” Indian Junior Technology Minister told The Business Standard Newspaper last week. Repeated annual losses posted by most Chinese handset makers in India, despite their main position, added criticism of unfair competition.

Personally, the government continues to ask the Chinese executive to build a local supply chain, distribution and export network from India, showing that New Delhi still really wants their investment, people said.