Haier, China's main consumer electronics manufacturer, has gained approval from India's Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and the Department of Telecommunications for its cooperation with Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices in establishing a mobile phone sales company in India.

The approval is of great significance because originally Haier submitted the application to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). They, however, transferred the application to the FIPB which complicated matters. It has now been reported that Tata has ordered 3,000 mobile phones made by Haier and has been approved to establish the joint venture to sell Haier CDMA and GSM mobile phones. Sources revealed that Haier planned to hold 51% share in the JV. Haier also planned to enter the Indian market via Haier Telecom, its subsidiary, targeting the Nascomed Technologies in Delhi, Haier's target cooperation operator. According to the FIPB, it is predicted that Hair will invest a foreign exchange capital of INR 11.20 million (USD 253,968). Haier's spokesman confirmed that the company has gained the approval from the FIPB and the Department of Telecommunications.

Originally the RBI claimed that the Indian government needed to seriously examine and investigate the investment position of the Chinese company. This Indian central bank believed that the application of the Chinese company must pass an audit of the FIB and the Department of Telecommunications but Haier had initially planned to establish its subsidiary according to the automatic approval procedure. A foreign-funded company which has entered the automatic approval procedure can conduct the business without the approval of the government according to the current investment policy of India. However, the company needs to inform the Indian central bank of the conditions of its foreign exchange inflow.

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