Fact check: Xiaomi isn't moving operations to PAK; committed to "Make in India"

Xiaomi has slammed baseless reports claiming that it is moving its India operations to Pakistan amid ED raids. The speculations originated from Pakistan amid ongoing case of seizure of Xiaomi's Rs 5,551.27 crore assets in India. But Xiaomi's response was swift in this matter.

The claim

Pakistani Twitter handle South Asia Index tweeted on Thursday that "Xiaomi may move its operations from India to Pakistan after Indian government freezes its assets worth $676 million." The information was cited to unnamed sources, but it went viral regardless.

Furthermore, the unverified Twitter handle claimed that "Xiaomi says it has "almost halted" its operations in India after being targeted by Indian govt." To further back its claims, the South Asia Index shared an 8-second video in which it also quoted Xiaomi as saying that "it will protect its business interests at any cost."

The tweet thread garnered a lot of attention, with hundreds of comments, thousands of RTs and Likes on Twitter.

Fact check

International Business Times reviewed the claims made by South Asia Index regarding Xiaomi's plans to shift operations to Pakistan amid ED raids in India. The fact that such headlining news was shared by an unverified handle and without any credible source to back up the claim. While these were the initial red flags, what completely debunked the claim was Xiaomi's swift response.

Responding to the same Twitter thread, Xiaomi slammed the "baseless" rumours.

"This tweet is completely false & baseless. Xiaomi entered India in 2014 & in less than a year, we embarked on our Make in India journey. 99% of our smartphones & 100% of our TVs are made in India. We'll take all measures to protect our reputation from false & inaccurate claims," said Xiaomi.

Last week, the competent authority appointed under Section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on Friday confirmed the seizure order of Rs 5,551.27 crore passed against Chinese phone maker Xiaomi India Private Limited by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), an ED official said. Earlier, the ED had seized Rs 5,551.27 crore of Xiaomi India lying in its bank accounts under the provisions of FEMA. In a setback to Xiaomi, the Karnataka High Court has ordered the company to furnish a bank guarantee to operate its bank accounts in the country. The Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited Company sought an interim order on the seizure of Rs 5,551.27 crore by the Indian authorities for allegedly transferring funds outside India by violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Taking up the petition by Xiaomi against the authorities, Justice N.S. Sanjay Gowda on Thursday stated that an interim order could only be given if the company gives bank guarantees for Rs 5,551.27 crore seized amount.

Reviewing the facts and Xiaomi's response, IBTimes has arrived at the conclusion that any claims about Xiaomi moving its India operations to Pakistan are completely false.