Govt likely to extend free import of laptops, PCs, tablets till year-end: Sources

India had first proposed restrictions on free import of laptop, PCs, tablets to give a boost to indigenous manufacturers and to ensure trusted supply chain of such items

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is set to release a notification extending the free import of laptops, personal computers (PC) and tablets until the year-end, said an official on September 20.

A formal request has been sent to the DGFT regarding this. The official said that the notification in this regard will be published by the late evening September 20 or September 21.

The current import management system which allows such free import ends on September 30. The industry, which includes laptop, and PC manufacturers has been "waiting with trepidation" for an update on the system's future.

On August 2023, the Centre announced that it would restrict free import of laptops, tablets, personal computers and so on, and companies would require licences for importing such products. This was seemingly done to provide a greater opportunity for Indian manufacturers given that the country depends heavily on inbound shipments of such products and also to ensure a trusted supply chain.

The policy faced stiff opposition from global tech giants such as Dell, Acer, Samsung, Panasonic, Apple, Lenovo and HP, who argued it would harm their operations. Responding to industry concerns, the government rolled back the restrictions the next month, extending the free import window by a year to September 2024.

The development that the government is expected to extend the existing import management system was first reported by news agency PTI.

As per the report, imports stood at $8.4 billion in 2023-2024 against the authorisation of about $9.5 billion. Most of the imports were coming from China, the report said.

Earlier, Moneycontrol had reported how the electronics manufacturing industry was worried about the future of the import management system.

Jason Oxman, the honcho of the Information Industry Information Council (ITIC), which represents major global laptop makers, painted a very obscure picture if the initial proposal of going forward with a licensing regime for laptop, PC imports was reinstated.

He had said, "The Prime Minister has done such a remarkably, truly amazing job of connecting people to the digital economy in India. There are 900 million Indian citizens who have access to the internet. There are 2 billion mobile devices in India. There are three times more people online in India than there are people in the United States...

"And if you impose the kind of restrictions that were proposed last year under this program, nobody's going to be able to access any of those services. Nobody's going to be able to access any of these capabilities, access any of these broadband services. India will be cut off from the global economy," Oxman warned.