After Laptops And Tablets, India Mulls Import Curbs On Printers, Cameras And Other Electronic Devices: Report

After making a licence mandatory for imports of personal computers and laptops, the government is now considering imposing similar restrictions on other products.

These products may reportedly include cameras, printers, hard disks, and parts of telephonic and telegraphic devices, Economic Times reported citing people aware of the matter.

The demand for these products in the local market is significant, and the high volume of imports necessitates immediate intervention to promote domestic production opportunities, according to the people mentioned in the ET report.

The imports of these goods exceeded $10.08 billion in FY23.

In addition to the aforementioned products, the government is reportedly reviewing other high-import items.

These include urea, antibiotics, turbo-jets, lithium-ion accumulators, refined copper, machines and mechanical appliances, solar and photovoltaic cells, aluminium scrap, sunflower seed oil, and cashew nuts.

In the fiscal year 2023, India witnessed a 16.5 per cent increase in total merchandise imports, reaching $714 billion. This surge in imports caused the country's current account deficit to rise from 1.2 per cent of GDP in the previous fiscal year to 2 per cent of GDP.

The government is reportedly closely monitoring the import of 250 products covered by the Information Technology Agreement-1 (ITA-1), which are not subject to import duties.

According to an official quoted in the ET report, the government's focus is primarily on the end products included in ITA-1 that are causing concerns due to their large-scale imports.

The ITA-1 encompasses a wide range of high-technology goods, including integrated circuits, computers, telecom equipment, semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing, amplifiers and testing equipment, software, and scientific instruments.

According to an official, the manufacturing of chips and displays needs to be encouraged due to their high cost. Another sector that requires attention is medical devices, the official added.

The possibility of local manufacturing is being explored for imports such as printers, keyboards, hard discs, and scanners.

An industry representative noted that the government's actions seem to be aimed at regulating the duty-free import of goods under the ITA-1. This could potentially create grounds for disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the future.

Last week, the government said import licenses will be required for laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small factor computers, and servers in India from 1 November. In the previous fiscal year, the total value of PC, laptop, and tablet imports amounted to $5.3 billion, while shipments of Wi-Fi dongles, smart card readers, and Android TV boxes reached $2.6 billion.

A study conducted by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in 2020 revealed that out of the 126 member countries that have signed the ITA-1 agreement, 114 of them are net importers of the products covered.

The top seven exporters in the world, accounting for over 80 per cent of total exports, are China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Japan, and the US.