A tender granted by the Delhi government for 1.5 lakh CCTV cameras to a firm where majority shares are owned by the Chinese government has put national security at risk. The firm in question Prama Hikvision India Private Limited has been blacklisted by the US government for remote hacking and backdoor access to data.
Times Now also accessed minutes of a Niti Ayog meeting which has categorically warned against the Chinese firm accused of illegally hacking and leaking data to China.
While Prama Hikvision’s MD and CEO Ashish Dhakan admitted that 58 per cent of the shares in the company were owned by the Chinese he claims that the products have been manufactured locally.
 
Speaking on the issue, BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao said, ‘This information is absolutely disconcerting. Only on the eve of elections, they are rushing to fulfil their promises. It will put the security of entire Delhi at risk.”
Firebrand BJP MP Subramanian Swamy called Kejriwal a Naxalite adding that he was not surprised.
Over the years, security concerns have been raised over the Chinese government using backdoors in electronics products manufactured there to remote access the data.
The CEO further claimed that the surveillance data can’t be leaked to China adding that they had acquired all the Indian security certificates.
The US air force had cancelled tender for Hikvision video surveillance system while US Homeland Security issued an advisory saying that their products are ‘remotely exploitable’.
The United States might also put the firm on its Entity List which means that no US firm can sell to Hikvision. Under § 744.11(b) of the US government, firms which pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States, and those acting on behalf of such persons, may be added to the Entity List.
Recently, CM Arvind Kejriwal had claimed that a Delhi school became the first in the world where parents could access live CCTV feeds of their child studying in the class adding that cameras will be installed inside classrooms in all the city government schools by November this year. However, parents are divided on Delhi’s government latest move to secure the classrooms.
Earlier, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia had said that three lakh CCTV cameras will be installed across the national capital in 50 days. He further said that the decision to install cameras was taken as a crime in the national capital was increasing day by day.