Centre rolls back its plan to license laptop, PC imports

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated23/05/2024

The Government rolled out an ‘import management system’ for IT hardware, including laptops and computers, modifying its initial stance of imposing physical restrictions.

The notification comes just days after concerns were raised by US, China, South Korea and Taiwan at a recent World Trade Organisation meeting.
Under the proposed system,
- IT hardware companies will be required to register and disclose data related to their imports, and countries from which they import.
- This comes as a big relief to the industry which feared that the previous licensing notification would lead to a kind of quota system.
The key idea behind the measure is to check imports of laptops and computers, especially since a majority of them come from China
- The Centre was planning to loosen its stance on import curbs, and was building the so-called import management system as a measure to monitor imports.
- The import of electronic goods increased to $6.96 billion from $4.73 billion in one year period
- China accounts for roughly 70-80 per cent of the share of India’s imports of personal computers, laptops.