India Inc has not recalled its representatives in China, despite the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. However, several multinationals have asked their managers in China to return.

Indian employees of Ranbaxy Guangzhou China Ltd, the manufacturing subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories, are still at Guangzhou. Operations in other Sars-affected countries like Malaysia and Singapore were also normal, company executives said.

JK Industries, the Hari Shankar Singhania Group company, which sources tyres for third-country exports from China, has no plans to recall its employees.

"Our business has not been affected, and our partners have assured us that our people are safe," JK Industries Managing Director Raghupati Singhania said. However, there was fear that the Chinese government might be under-reporting the spread of Sars, he added.

An NIIT spokesperson said the firm was not calling back any of its five employees. "Our operations in China are small, and we are yet to see any sign of panic," the spokesperson added.

Like NIIT, Tata Consultancy Services is not recalling any employee from China because its operations have not been affected.

"We are watching the situation. Our clients have not asked us to shift. We are also making sure that our people in the region are following health guidelines," a TCS spokesperson said.

The company, which does back-end work for GE Medical Systems in Hangzhou, also has offices in Shanghai and Beijing.

"We do not see any impact of Sars on the Indian software sector in the short run. With all the effort, we think it will be controlled before it gets worse," Kiran Karnik, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies, said.

The Confederation of Indian Industry said its Shanghai office was functioning at full strength. Its units in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were also fully operational, CII officials said.

More deaths in China, Hong Kong

China and Hong Kong reported 10 more deaths from Sars on Tuesday and Beijing tried to stop people from travelling to the vast countryside in a frantic effort to contain the deadly virus.