Xiaomi India Dismisses Speculation on India Operations Being Moved to Pakistan as 'False and Baseless'

Xiaomi on Friday said that 99 percent of the company's smartphones and all its TV models were assembled in India.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 8 October 2022 17:23 IST

Xiaomi India Dismisses Speculation on India Operations Being Moved to Pakistan as 'False and Baseless'

Photo Credit: Reuters

Xiaomi's appeal to the Karnataka High Court to lift the freeze on its funds was denied on Thursday

Highlights

Xiaomi has denied speculation it might shift India operations to Pakistan
The company is being probed by the ED, which has frozen its funds
Xiaomi is accused of making illegal remittances to foriegn entities

Xiaomi on Friday dismissed speculation that the company might move its operations from India to Pakistan. The company responded to a tweet from a portal on Twitter that claimed the Chinese smartphone manufacturer might shift operations after its funds were frozed by authorities in India over alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules. Earlier this week, the Karnataka High Court had denied Xiaomi's appeal for relief after nearly Rs. 5,500 crore worth of the company's assets were frozen by the Enforcement Directorate in April.

A tweet by South Asia Index on Thursday claimed that the Chinese smartphone maker might move its operations from India to Pakistan after the government of India froze the firm's assets worth $676 million (roughly Rs. 5,500 crore). Xiaomi responded to the tweet on Friday, stating that it was "complete false and baseless".

This tweet is completely false & baseless. Xiaomi entered India in 2014 & in less than a year, we embarked on our Make in India journey.
99% of our smartphones & 100% of our TVs are made in India. We'll take all measures to protect our reputation from false & inaccurate claims.
— Xiaomi India (@XiaomiIndia) October 7, 2022

The company went on to state that it joined the government's Make in India initiative after it entered the Indian market in 2014. It also added that 99 percent of the company's smartphones and all its TV models were assembled in India.

Xiaomi's clarification on Twitter came a day after the company's appeal to the Karnataka High Court to lift the freeze on $676 million (nearly Rs. 5,500 crore) worth of assets was denied by the court. The company is being probed by the ED for allegedly made illegal remittances to foreign entities by passing them off as royalty payments.

The freezing of Xiaomi's assets was confirmed by the competent authority under FEMA on September 30. The seizure is the highest amount in India to be confirmed by the authority till date, according to the ED.

The company had argued that the freezing of the assets was "severely disproportionate and has effectively halted the operations" of the company, according to a report by Reuters. The company previously claimed that its royalty payments were legitimate and truthful, and that it would "continue to use all means to protect the reputation and interests."

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Further reading: Xiaomi, ED, Enforcement Directorate, FEMA

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More