It’s not just Anil Ambani who is facing problems due to a change in visa norms by the home ministry. Elder brother Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) also has to send back 100 expatriates from onshore and offshore installations that could potentially hamper its operations.

Early this month, RIL wrote to the petroleum ministry seeking time till January 31 for repatriating its foreign professionals to provide “sufficient breathing time to implement the decision in an orderly and non-disruptive manner”.

“Sudden removal of expatriates in the middle of their present tours of duty, without their relievers in place would lead to shut down of crucial ongoing operations,” says the letter dated November 6 from RIL executive director P M S Prasad. The deadline, if extended to January 31, would provide the company a breather to replace current crews under the “normal rotation cycle”.

On par with the global best practices, the home ministry last month tightened employment visa rules to distinguish it from the liberal business visa and prevent the latter’s misuse by making it mandatory for expatriate workers — including those from China — to re-enter India for completing their existing assignments only on an employment visa.

The new norms mandate all foreign professionals living in India on business visas to leave the country by October 31 if they are engaged in execution of projects and contracts. From November 1, employment visas for clerical, routine and secretarial jobs would also not be granted.

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