Apple, Samsung and HP have started freezing new imports of laptops and tablets to India after the government banned its imports without a licence.
The world’s largest PC producers are now engaging with the government on how to obtain the licence quickly, the report said. The restriction on imports comes ahead of the festive season in India when sales usually surge.
Regulators on Thursday surprised the world’s biggest PC makers when they made licenses mandatory for import of electronics from small tablets to all-in-one PCs without a license. Laptop makers had been bracing for some government measures aimed at reducing reliance on imports and boosting local production, but the sudden licensing imposition caught the industry off-guard, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Companies bringing laptops, tablets and other IT products to India from overseas will get at least one month to apply for import licenses, a senior technology ministry official told reporters in New Delhi Friday. The government is simplifying the process of applying for licenses which can be approved, in as little as a day, the official added.
The import restriction, an example of India’s sudden policy shifts, adds to longstanding measures designed to discourage bringing in foreign electronics. It’s intended in part to realize longer-term ambitions to create a world-class tech manufacturing industry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is currently seeking applications for a 170 billion-rupee ($2.1 billion) financial incentive plan to draw makers of laptops, tablets and other hardware to the world’s most populous nation as companies look to diversify supply chains beyond China.
