India will not import power equipment from China, says power minister RK Singh

Amid growing tension between India and China, power minister RK Singh said that India will not import power equipment from China  

New Delhi: Power minister RK Singh on Friday (July 3) said that India will not import power equipment from China, amid border standoff with China.

During a virtual press conference with state counterparts, he also asserted that the equipment import from China and Pakistan would not be permitted, especially on the basis of inspection.

He further said state Discoms (power distribution companies) should not give orders for supply of equipment to Chinese firms.

"We manufacture everything here. India imported Rs 71,000 crore worth power equipment including Rs 21,000 crore from China," Singh said in the state energy ministers’ conference chaired by him this morning in his opening remarks.

He said, "This (huge import of power equipment) is something we cannot tolerate that a country will transgress into our territory ... we will not take anything from China and Pakistan."

He further said, "We will not give permission for import from Prior Reference countries. We are affected. There could be malware or trojan horse in those (imports from China) which they can activate remotely (to cripple our power systems)."