Government of India restricts import of laptops, computers, tablets

According to a new order released by the government of India, the country has put restrictions on the import of laptops, computers and tablets. “Their import would be allowed against a valid licence for restricted imports,” the notice said.

In April-June, electronics imports, which include laptops, tablets and personal computers, was $19.7 billion, up 6.25% year-on-year. Electronics imports range between 7% to 10% of the country’s total merchandise imports. Laptops, tablets and personal computers compose about 1.5% of the country’s total annual imports and nearly half of those are bought from China, according to government data.

“The move’s spirit is to push manufacturing to India. It’s not a nudge, it’s a push,” said Ali Akhtar Jafri, former director general at electronics industry body MAIT.

For quite some time, India has been trying to get more and more foreign investors and has been pushing companies to shift their manufacturing plants to India by offering production-based incentives in over two dozen sectors. It has even extended the deadline for companies to apply for its $2 billion manufacturing incentive scheme to attract big-ticket investments in IT hardware manufacturing, which covers products like laptops, tablets, personal computers and servers. The incentive scheme is key to India’s ambitions to become a powerhouse in the global electronics supply chain, with the country targeting annual production worth $300 billion by 2026.

Dell, Acer, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Apple Inc, Lenovo and HP Inc are some of the key companies selling laptops in the Indian market and a substantial portion are imported from countries such as China. India has in the past increased tariffs on electronics to push domestic manufacturing instead of importing.

The government of India has very recently been in talks with various companies for setting up their plants, one of whom is the electronic vehicle manufacturer Tesla which is in talks with senior officials for setting up an electronic car factory.

Last year, India produced $38 billion worth of mobile phones in the country, while local production of laptops and tablets was just $4 billion in comparison, according to estimates from industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association.