The step highlights growing nervousness and impatience among Chinese investors, who have seen roughly 150 investment proposals worth more than $2 billion held up by India’s slow approvals process, according to industry estimates.
The delays are forcing Great Wall, which was expected to begin selling its India-made Haval brand of crossovers and SUVs in the country this year, to look at taking a more measured approach.
It may even consider entering the market with a fully-built imported vehicle before starting domestic production, one of the sources said.
“When approvals in India come through, Great Wall will be ready with the money, but it may not be a straight decision anymore,” said the source.
“The company will judge the situation before moving forward. What if future approvals get stuck?”
Earlier this year, India had been set to clear about 45 of the investment proposals from China, mainly in manufacturing, but it was not immediately clear how many had been approved.
Indian officials say the situation cannot return to business as usual until de-escalation at the border is complete, however.
The Chinese automaker will also wait for ties between the two nations to improve and for the COVID-19 pandemic to ease in India before speeding up its plans for the market, said a second source.
Great Wall still wants to make cars in India and is now building its supply chain, the source added.
The firm saw India as a key market when it kicked off its global expansion, envisioning its plant in the subcontinent to be its biggest outside China.
Great Wall now makes cars in Russia and Thailand, where it acquired a plant at the time it announced its India plans.
Brazil is the latest market in its global push, where it plans to build its Haval brand of crossovers and SUVs for domestic sale and export, the sources said.
Great Wall, which sold 1.1 million cars last year, mostly in China, is eyeing an aggressive plan to expand in Asian, European and Latin American markets.
It is developing electric Mini cars with BMW and is building a factory with the German premium carmaker in China.