New Delhi: India is considering speeding up the process of issuing visas to Chinese technicians, officials familiar with the matter said, in a move aimed at eliminating delays at manufacturing units.

Process time will be reduced

Nearly 1,600 visa applications for Chinese technicians were received between last November and April this year. The official said a new fast-track portal will be set up to reduce the time for visa approval decisions from a year to less than a month. These visas will allow Chinese technicians to stay for up to six months.

Losses due to lack of technicians 

An official said the plan to expedite visa approvals is supported by the commerce ministry and despite initial objections, the foreign ministry is considering it positively. Domestic industry and government officials have urged the foreign ministry to expedite the issue.

The Commerce Ministry, Home Ministry and Foreign Ministry have not commented on the issue. Industries ranging from telecom to steel products and solar panels require technicians to operate machinery manufactured in China. An industry estimate has said that the electronics manufacturing sector alone has lost $15 billion in production over the past four years due to the visa issue.