Restriction on import of electronics: Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Friday hailed the government’s decision to impose restrictions on imports of certain computers, laptops, and tablets. It said that such a move would boost domestic manufacturing and enhance the consumption of goods in line with the government’s Make in India vision.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in a notification on August 3 announced restricting the import of certain items listed under HSN Code 8471: Automatic Data Processing Machines and Units Thereof. This included products such as laptops, desktops and personal computers. The notification stated that the imports would be allowed only against a valid license for restricted imports.
However, the exemption from the import license requirement is given for the import of one laptop, tablet, all-in-one personal computer, or ultra-small form computer, including those purchased from e-commerce portals.
The exemption is provided for 20 such items per consignment for the purpose of research and development, testing, benchmarking and evaluation, repair and re-export and product development purposes, as per the notification of DGFT.
CAIT National President BC Bhartia, and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal in a statement said, “So far foreign goods were capturing the vast Indian market much to the disadvantage of the consumer and local traders. With this step the quality of Indian goods will be in demand and unnecessary flow of Indian currency to other Countries will be stopped.”
Bhartia and Khandelwal further commented that it will stop refurbished items from being imported, as well as stop the low-quality and sub-standard products from entering the market. However, the trade leaders noted that it should not impact the Market Operating Price (MOP) of branded products since import duty is nil. MOP is the price at which a product is available to the retailer from the manufacturer.
CAIT also said that this initiative will compel foreign manufacturers to set up manufacturing units in India.