CAIT seeks probe into Chinese investments in Indian startups to rule out "foul play"

New Delhi: Traders’ body CAIT on Tuesday called for an investigation into investments made by Chinese firms in various Indian startups to ensure that data accrued by these startups are not being transferred to Chinese investors and there is no threat to the country’s security.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal seeking a probe to ascertain that no “foul play” was taking place under the garb of investment.

“We request you to order for an investigation of investments made by Chinese companies in various Indian startups to ensure that the data accrued by these startups are not being transferred to Chinese investors in any way and there is no threat to the security of the country,” CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said in the letter to Sitharaman.

The traders’ body further said that the Chinese firms that may have set up manufacturing plants in India should also be investigated for whether the data they have accrued is not being misused or sent to China.

“We wish to state that Chinese companies have major investments in many startups in India and the few majors are Flipkart, Paytm Mall, Paytm.com, Swiggy, Ola, OYO, Zomato, Policybazaar, BigBasket, Delhivery, MakeMyTrip, Dream 11, Hike, Snapdeal, Udaan, Lenskart.com, Byjus Classes, Citrus Tech etc.,” Khandelwal said.

Chinese companies like Alibaba, Tencent and others are lead investors in many of these startups and it should be ensured that no foul play is taking place under the garb of investment, he added.