Govt may impose licensing requirement on furniture, toys, sports gear imports: Report

The government may soon impose licensing requirements on imports of furniture, toys and sports goods, amid a push for self-reliance.

The government is also planning to hike import duties for certain products to their bound tariff, or ceiling rates, to make imports more expensive, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Bound tariff, as specified by the World Trade organisation (WTO), is the maximum rate that can be placed on an item, beyond which a country cannot raise the cost.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

The decision to place a licensing requirement on the imports comes after the government found that raising duties was ineffective in curbing imports, though it increased the costs for the domestic industry, The Economic Times reported.

Also read: How dependent is India on China? Here is what trade data reveals

"Non-duty actions like import curbs are one of the main actions available to the government as many of these are coming at low duty and which cannot be controlled through increased tariffs," an official told the publication.

Other industries where the government might restrict imports include air-conditioners, leather, footwear, agro-chemicals, ready-to-eat food, steel, aluminium, copper, textiles, electric vehicles, auto components, TV set-top boxes, CCTVs, ethanol & bio-fuels.

The industry is being consulted on the subject of import restrictions, the report said.

"So, industry will be able to rapidly move to domestic manufacturing without consumers seeing any price escalation," an official told the paper.

India recently placed imports of tyres and colour TVs on the restricted list, most of which come from China, which means imports of these products require licenses.