"Pegged at that, I don't think it is an unreasonable expectation to expect that we would deliver our goods and services to people who are with us in this agreement," said Ashishkumar Gupta, chief executive of Jilin Haor Iron & Steel Co, adding that further delays would drive up costs. Haor is one of about 60 companies from China and Bangladesh that signed a memorandum of understanding last month with a group of local companies to set up an iron ore unit in Sampit. The Bangladeshi government has previously said it would grant permission for construction to start.
India and China have also been locked in a deepening trade war over Beijing's plan to impose higher tariffs on Indian exports worth $5 billion.
The Indian government has launched two investigations, a preliminary one against Haor, a 100-year-old company known as the "Holy Grail" of the iron ore industry, and a probe into whether Haor had violated state-owned steelmaker National Steel and Engineering Corp's (NSEL) contractual obligations.
Last week, two Chinese executives with the state-owned China Nonferrous Metals Industry Corp were also barred from entering India, after the companies inked a contract with Haor, and the only Chinese executives among Haor's two new partners.
Read Also:
Haor's other partner in the unit is Inter Steel India Ltd, the Indian arm of Inter Steel of China Ltd.
Haor and the company's Bangladesh arm have said they are confident they will be cleared of any wrongdoing.
"I have no doubt that we will be cleared and found to be within our rights and our obligations as the contract was clearly open and fair," said Gupta.
India and China are the world's largest importers and exporters of steel, and in recent years have been locked in a bitter trade war, which is also threatening to damage economic ties between the world's biggest democracies.
China has also been seen as an increasingly important market for India's commodity exports, including iron ore.
In fact, India has repeatedly warned Chinese companies not to purchase iron ore from Bangladesh, saying the neighboring country was an unreliable supplier of supplies.
That has led to rising tensions between the countries and analysts have said it could have a major impact on bilateral trade.
"This is a concern for the industry," said Gupta, adding that Haor has "unwavering" faith in the Indian legal system and the "honesty" be359ba680
Related links: