Even as the Union Government finalises its guidelines to tackle security concerns arising on account of foreign direct investments from certain countries, the Ministry of Power has suggested that foreign companies participating in a project should not be subjected to further restrictions once they are cleared at the RfQ or the qualifying stage.These are projects that don't fall in the sensitive border areas like Arunachal Pradesh for which a separate set of decisions is awaited. In order to ensure that there is clarity on foreign companies participating in projects in India, the Power Ministry has suggested that there should be no further restrictions on the participation of Chinese or other foreign companies after being shortlised at the RfQ or qualifying stage. While a decision to this effect is expected to be taken by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the Ministry of Power has also suggested that the Home Ministry should prepare a list of blacklisted foreign companies that would be disqualified at the very outset from the bidding process.While this list can be updated on a regular basis, the Ministry of Power has also suggested that for companies that employ foreign nationals in projects, based on the Home Ministry's advice, Visa restrictions can be exercised by Indian embassies on the number of foreign nationals that are being brought in for undertaking works on a project.
