In a big move to promote the Make in India campaign, the government has restricted imports of laptops, tablets and personal computers with immediate effect on Thursday.
“Their import would be allowed against a valid licence for restricted imports,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notice.
“Import of Laptops, Tablets, All-in-one Personal Computers, and Ultra small form factor Computers and Servers falling under HSN 8741 shall be ‘Restricted’ and their import would be allowed against a valid Licence for Restricted Imports,” it said.
However, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the Restriction shall not be applicable to Imports under Baggage Rules, as amended from time to time. “Exemption from Import Licencing requirements is provided for Import of 1 Laptop, Tablet, All-in-one Personal Computer or Ultra small form factor Computer, including those purchased from e-commerce portals through post or courier,” it said.
The electronics imports including laptops, tablets and personal computers in April-June were up by 6.25% YoY at USD 19.7 billion.
It is to be noted that India has been pushing manufacturing by giving PLIs in over two dozen sectors that include electronics as well.
The key companies selling laptops in the Indian market are Dell, Acer, Samsung, LG Electronics, Apple Inc, Lenovo and HP Inc whose substantial portions are imported from countries such as China.