Govt restricts import of laptop, tablets and computers with immediate effect

New Delhi: The central government has restricted imports of laptops, tablets and personal computers under HSN 8471 with immediate effect, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notice on August 3, Thursday, in a bid to push local manufacturing.

The notice stated, “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.”

“The said Restriction shall not be applicable to Imports under Baggage Rules, as amended from time to time,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said.

It added, “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.”

Imports shall be subject to payment of duty as applicable, the government further added.

In April-June, electronics imports, which include laptops, tablets and personal computers, were $19.7 billion, up 6.25% year-on-year. Electronics imports range between 7% to 10% of the country’s total merchandise imports.

India has been trying to push local manufacturing by giving production-linked incentives in over two dozen sectors, including electronics.

It has 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 government said that the exemption from impart licence is provided for up to 20 such items per consignment for the purpose of R&D (Research and Development) Testing Benchmarking and evaluation repair and re-export, and product development purposes.

“Given imports shall be allowed subject to the condition that the imported goods shall be used for the stated purposes only and will not be sold,” stated the ministry, and added, “Further, after the intended purpose, the products would either be destroyed beyond use or re-exported.”

However, the ministry clarified that the licence for restricted imports shall not be required for the repair and return of said items.

Laptops, Tablets, All-in-one Personal Computers, and Ultra small farm factor Computers and Servers which are an essential part of a Capital Good shall be exempted from the import licencing requirements.

Dell, Acer, Samsung, LG Electronics, 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, imposed high tariffs on products like mobile phones to catalyze domestic output.

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