India Imposes Restrictions On Import Of Laptop, Tablets, Computers: Govt Notice

India has imposed restrictions on imports of laptop, tablets and personal computers with immediate effect on Thursday, as per a government notice.

According to a Reuters report, "Their import would be allowed against a valid licence for restricted imports," the notice claimed.

Earlier, during the April-June quarter, electronics imports, which include laptops, tablets and personal computers, was $19.7 billion, up 6.25% year-on-year (YoY). Electronics imports range between 7% to 10% of the country's total merchandise imports.

"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.

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

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 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, reported Reuters.

Meanwhile, shares of leading Indian electronic maker Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd rallied 4.45% on BSE. Current market price of Dixon Technologies share is Rs 4308.00 per share with intraday gain of 4.45%.

Leading companies like Dell, Acer, Samsung, LG Electronics, Apple Inc, Lenovo, and HP Inc sell laptops in the Indian market and a considerable portion are imported from countries such as China, stated the Reuters report.

The intent seems to be "import substitution of certain goods that are imported heavily," said Madhavi Arora, economist at Emkay Global.