NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): After a ban on toys and milk due to adulteration and poisonous lead content, Chinese firms are in trouble again in India. This time Chinese contractors are facing the music in India with some leading PSUs mulling to ban Chinese companies from taking up their projects.

Reason for this is poor work experience and inefficient handling of the project due to which much delay is caused.

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is considering a ban on some Chinese contractors in its future projects after its poor experience with these companies.

According to media reports, India’s largest steel producer has seen delays in project implementation and cost overruns after it invited three Chinese companies — CISRI, Dalian Huarui and Beijing Sino Steel — in the expansion projects of its offshoot, IISCO Steel Plant.

SAIL board will soon take up the issue and may blacklist such Chinese firms. The Chinese firms delayed commissioning of their respective projects by around 12 months on flimsy grounds. Besides, communication has been a big problem with them.

SAIL is investing more than Rs 60,000 crore in expanding its hot metal capacity from 14.6 million tonne to 23.5 million tonne by 2012.

While there may not be a blanket ban on Chinese firms in any of SAIL’s modernisation and expansion projects, the company may device a mechanism to blacklist inefficient contractors from that country.

SAIL is under pressure from the government to complete its expansion projects by 2012.

SAIL’s woes with Chinese contractors comes close on heels of similar problems faced by several power projects that have ordered equipment from companies from that country.