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| Govt tweaks licensing norms for laptop, computer imports; puts in place online authorisation system | | |  agencies
NEW DELHI, Oct 19: The government on Thursday tweaked curbs on imports of laptops and computers as it allowed importers to bring in shipments of IT hardware from overseas on a mere 'authorisation' upon detailing quantity and value.
The new 'import management system' is aimed at monitoring shipments of laptops, tablets and computers into the country without hurting market supply or creating a cumbersome licensing regime.
The announcement is likely to provide relief to companies in the IT hardware segment in India as they had flagged concerns over the imposition of a strict licensing regime for importers. Leading electronic brands that are sold in the market include HCL, Samsung, Dell, LG Electronics, Acer, Apple, Lenovo and HP.
Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Saranagi told reporters here that the new licensing or import authorisation/management system, which will come into operation with immediate effect, is primarily aimed at monitoring imports of these products to ensure that they are coming from "trusted" sources.
While seeking the authorisation, an importer will have to provide an import item summary and details of past import, export, and turnover. Subject to certain conditions, the government will not reject any import requests and will use the data for monitoring the inbound shipments of these goods.
After taking into account the concerns of stakeholders of the sector, some "tweaking" in the policy has been made, and an end-to-end online system was launched for importers, Saranagi said.
Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) S Krishnan said this system will "provide us with the kind of data and information (that) we need to make sure that we have a completely trusted digital system in this country".
On August 3, the government announced import curbs and then suddenly deferred the decision on August 4, stating that the licensing regime will kick in from November 1 following concerns raised by the industry.
An official said that the new online system is simple as compared to a cumbersome license regime. The importers are allowed to apply for multiple authorisations and those authorisations would be valid up to September 30, 2024. The authorisations will be issued for any number of consignments for imports till September next year.
About post-September 2024 scenario, Krishnan said the government will study the data, interact with the industry, and then decide on ways to move forward.
"The intent is not to cause any kind of inconvenience or difficulty, impose any needless restriction on any of the players involved," the MeiTY secretary said, adding the goal is to promote manufacturing of more and more electronic hardware in the country.
Electronics will become the largest manufacturing sector not just in India but the whole world and India needs to have a significant presence in the sector and these measures will help in achieving that overall goal, he added. |
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