According to a report by Reuters, a tax inquiry into China’s Huawei Technologies discovered that the telecommunications equipment company altered account books to decrease its taxable income in the nation.
Without mentioning the company, India’s Ministry of Finance stated that a large telecoms group failed to account for the income of 400 crores ($52 million) in its records and reported spending of 480 crores that the firm failed to justify. A request for feedback from a Huawei representative in India was not immediately returned.
The claims came after income tax officials raided Huawei’s offices in New Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, as well as the neighbouring city of Hyderabad. Senior executives’ houses were also searched. More investigations are being conducted, according to the finance ministry.
The decision comes amid rising tensions between India and China following a border confrontation between the two countries in 2020. In February, India restricted access to 54 smartphone applications, the majority of which were of Chinese origin, claiming security concerns.
Globally, Huawei has been at the centre of a campaign by the US, which has lobbied allies to exclude the company from their 5G networks due to surveillance fears. The corporation has stated that it is not a security risk.
When it came to foreign network equipment providers permitted to conduct 5G testing in India, one of the world’s largest marketplaces in terms of mobile phone subscribers, the government neglected Huawei. The selling of processors and other components used in Huawei’s network gear and smartphone operations has also been hampered by trade restrictions imposed by the US government.
