India has postponed the start date of restrictive measures against the import of laptops, tablets, and servers to this country.
Yesterday’s statement, dated August 3, New Delhi, that the importation of these devices into the country will be possible only with a special license was a real surprise for the giants of the electronics industry, but in this case, it is not an unexpected joy, but a serious problem that abruptly arose without any preliminary signs of a decision on new regulatory standards supplies to the Indian market.
The Indian Ministry of Commerce announced on August 3 that the restrictive measures would take effect immediately. The notification of this department also contained information that the Government of the country is ready to approve the supply of products with limited access, subject to the availability of an existing license. Separately, the Ministry clarified that the restrictive measures do not apply to passengers carrying devices in their luggage.
On Friday, August 4, it became known that the giants of the electronics industry will be given a so-called transition period to adapt to the new norms of the concept of Indian import policy. The corresponding statement was made by the Deputy Minister of Information Technology of the country Rajeev Chandrasekhar. According to him, the government will provide companies with at least a month so that they can obtain licenses, the availability of which permits the supply of laptops, tablets, and servers to the country.
Computer suppliers, including Dell, Apple, and Samsung, on Thursday have already met the new standards of the Indian authorities and froze all new imports. This was reported by the media.
Manufacturers of equipment were prepared for the fact that the Indian leadership would impose restrictions on imports and stimulate the local technology sector. But such a sudden decision, which in a certain sense has a radical form of implementation, even taking into account the transition period, came as a surprise to them.
The media, citing their sources, report that currently manufacturers are in constant contact with New Delhi, seeking to obtain a license as soon as possible. This activity is due to the fact that during the autumn festival of Diwali and against the background of returning to school, there is traditionally an increase in sales in the country.
Officials are helping technology companies with the customs clearance of goods en route to India. This issue is important because, in the event of a failure of already launched supplies, the trade of PCs with a multibillion-dollar turnover will be disrupted.
Over the past few years, India has been actively implementing strategies to stimulate the development of the local technology sector. In the context of this activity, the authorities of the country focus on the production process and the expansion of its scale. The plan to activate the development of the technology sector already has certain results. Several smartphone manufacturers are starting to assemble their products in India. Also, companies producing microchips and semiconductors are currently announcing plans to establish a production process and implement other business initiatives in this country.
In May, the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a program to stimulate enterprises that locally carry out activities for the production of laptops, PCs, servers, and related sets of advanced computing. The cost of this state project is $2 billion.
The Enterprise Incentive Program is the second in a row in India. The first initiative of the corresponding orientation assumed state funding in the amount of $892 million.
Research firm Counterpoint, which is based in Hong Kong, reported that between 30% and 35% of laptops and 30% of tablets delivered to the Indian consumer market in the first half of 2023 were produced locally.
Import restrictions are not a new practice for the Indian leadership. About three years ago, a ban on the import of smart TVs was introduced in India. As a result of this decision, there was an increase in local production. Some analysts believe that measures regarding the import of PCs, laptops, and tablets will have the same consequences, which are unequivocally positive from the point of view of the development of India’s technological sovereignty.
Experts say that in this context, the goals of the Indian government are to provide reliable equipment and systems, reduce the level of dependence on imports and increase domestic production.
At the same time, there is another point of view. Some experts argue that the new restrictive measures will aggravate the unfavorable situation, which was formed by the factor of a global oversupply of product stocks and the circumstance of a minimal amount of incentives for sales growth. Also, in their opinion, there may be a shortage of electronic devices in the Indian market. India’s dependence on imports is still at a high level. But it should be noted that in this case, consequences are implied that are likely in the foreseeable future and limited in time, and not long-term changes that provoke a profound transformation in the state of affairs.
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