India takes another step to block China products with new rules

New sellers on the Government e-Marketplace, an Amazon-like online procurement platform, will have to register the origin of their products while those already available must meet the new requirement or risk being removed.

India has amended rules for purchases by government departments, making it mandatory for suppliers to mention the country of origin in a move to push for local products and keep out Chinese manufacturers.

Protesters burn an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping at a demonstration requesting consumers to boycott Chinese goods organised by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) at Karol Bagh market in New Delhi, India. (Bloomberg)

New sellers on the Government e-Marketplace, an Amazon-like online procurement platform, will have to register the origin of their products while those already available must meet the new requirement or risk being removed, according to a government statement on Tuesday. The platform will allow buyers to filter products based on the country of origin and select those with a high percentage of local content. Buyers can choose to buy only those products that meet the minimum 50% local content criteria.

The push for products made in India comes amid rising public clamor for a boycott of Chinese goods as the two nations are engaged in their deadliest border conflict in four decades.

The platform, which serves India’s government departments, recorded sales worth 400 billion rupees ($5.3 billion) in the last fiscal year and has 324,000 vendors.

Earlier this month, India also modified public procurement rules to give maximum preference to companies whose goods and services have 50% or more local content, with an aim to promote Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” program in response to calls to make the country self-reliant.