IT Correspondent
Delhi/Mumbai, June 26:
As a sequel to recent skirmishes across the Indo-China border and resultant death of 20 Indian army personnel, the Delhi Hotels & Restaurant Owners Association (DHROA) has decided not to provide the budget hotel or guest house accommodation to Chinese nationals in Delhi.
The decision covering 3,000 budget hotels and guest houses with about 75 thousand rooms in the Indian capital, has been taken to “support our government in this war-like situation with China”, DHROA President Sandeep Khandelwal said.
DHROA, which represents mostly three- and four-star hotels, has also decided not to use any Chinese made products in their hotels and guest houses, as calls for a boycott of Chinese goods gather pace. The development comes as DHROA has extended full fledged support to ‘Boycott Chinese Campaign’ of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which is in the process of roping in various sectors to join the campaign.
“CAIT will now contact national organizations of transport, farmers, hawkers, small scale industries, consumer entrepreneurs themselves, women entrepreneurs and connect them with this campaign,” the CAIT statement said and added that by December 2021, traders along with Indian citizens will reduce the imports from China to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore.
E-commerce giants including US giant Amazon— which sell huge volumes of Chinese-made electronic items—have agreed to display the country of origin of goods for sale on their platforms. China’s Xiaomi, India’s top cell phone brand which has factories in the country is covering its logo on shop fronts in major cities, with banners reading “Made in India”.
“The company officials told us to do this to protect us from protesters or politicians who could damage the property as anti-China sentiments are on the rise,” the owner of one of the Xiaomi shops in Mumbai said. However the demand for smart phones has not come down since people are still buying these gadgets,” he added.
In the meanwhile, the goods made in China, including some raw materials vital to Indian pharmaceutical firms, are also starting to pile up at Indian ports and airports because of more stringent customs checks. The goods include the goods imported by over 50 companies operating in India.
As of now the boycott of Chinese good appears symbolic since due to travel restrictions following coronavirus pandemic, the number of foreign visitors to India has dwindled. In 2018, over 3 lakh Chinese had visited India. Annual bilateral trade is worth some $90 billion, with a deficit of around $50 billion in China’s favour.
