The government has implemented immediate restrictions on the import of laptops, tablets, and personal computers in order to promote local manufacturing, according to a government notice released on Thursday.
The notice stated that imports of these products would only be permitted with a valid license for restricted imports.
In the April-June period, the value of electronics imports, including laptops, tablets, and personal computers, reached $19.7 billion (approximately Rs. 16,304 crore), marking a 6.25 percent increase compared to the previous year. Electronics imports make up between 7 percent to 10 percent of the country’s total merchandise imports.
Former director general at the electronics industry body MAIT, Ali Akhtar Jafri, commented, “The intention behind this move is to drive manufacturing in India. It is not simply a nudge, but a strong push.”
The government has been actively promoting local manufacturing by offering production-linked incentives in more than 20 sectors, including electronics.
Furthermore, the government has extended the deadline for companies to apply for its $2 billion (approximately Rs. 16,400 crore) manufacturing incentive scheme, which aims to attract significant investments in IT hardware manufacturing for products such as laptops, tablets, personal computers, and servers.
This incentive scheme is a crucial component of India’s goal to become a major player in the global electronics supply chain, with a target of achieving annual production worth $300 billion (approximately Rs. 2,500 crore) by 2026.
Notable companies like Dell, Acer, Samsung, LG Electronics, Apple, Lenovo, and HP dominate the Indian laptop market, with a significant portion of these products being imported from China.
On the back of this news, shares of Indian electronic manufacturer Dixon Technologies experienced a 5 percent increase.
Madhavi Arora, an economist at Emkay Global, observed, “The intention here appears to involve substituting certain heavily imported goods with domestically produced alternatives.”
In terms of India’s total annual imports, laptops, tablets, and personal computers account for approximately 1.5 percent, and nearly half of these products are imported from China, according to government data.
Historically, the government has imposed high tariffs on products like mobile phones in order to stimulate domestic output.
For instance, last year, the country produced mobile phones worth $38 billion (approximately Rs. 31,451 crore), while the production of laptops and tablets amounted to just $4 billion (approximately Rs. 3,310 crore), according to estimates from the industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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