Government restricts imports of Laptops, tablets, and PCs to push PLI 2.0

The central government on Thursday restricted imports of laptops, tablets, and personal computers under HSN 8471 with immediate effect, 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 license for restricted imports,” a notification released by the Ministry of Commerce read.

Imports under the baggage rules are still permitted. This means that one laptop, tablet, all-in-one personal computer, or ultra-small form factor computer, including those purchased online and shipped via post or courier, will not be subject to the Import Licensing Rules.

The notification states that consignments containing up to 20 laptops, tablets, and PCs will be exempt from import licensing. These items can be used for research and development, testing, benchmarking, evaluation, repair, re-export, and product development purposes.

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.”

Move to push PLI 2.0 for IT hardware

Experts believe the move will boost the government’s ‘Make in India’ program, as the country seeks to capitalize upon its vast consumer market to force manufacturers to start production in India.

India is actively promoting domestic production by offering production-linked incentives across various sectors, including electronics.

The deadline for India's $2 billion manufacturing incentive program has been extended to attract investments in IT hardware manufacturing, including laptops, tablets, personal computers, and servers.