KOCHI: Central government's restriction on the import of gadgets, including laptops, will boost domestic production in the electronics sector. Central government has introduced licensing for the import and sale of laptops, tablets and personal computers in India. With this, bringing such gadgets from abroad to India will be an expensive task.

Growth as objective

Central government says the import restriction is to encourage domestic production under the Make in India and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. It is also the Centre's aim to reduce imports from China as a safeguard. With the new decision, it is expected that big companies will move towards manufacturing the entire portion of gadgets in India instead of importing them from abroad. This will be beneficial for the growth of industry in the country and the development and growth of India along with increased employment and income. Reducing imports will also boost India's foreign exchange reserves. Several companies had opened factories in India and started production when the Center restricted smartphone imports from China.

How the control works

Individuals can still buy laptops online from abroad, but import duties and shipping fees must be paid when they are brought in. Taxes will have to be paid in the country of purchase of the laptop and again in India. Meanwhile, travellers coming from abroad are not barred from bringing a laptop for personal use. Similarly, devices imported for research and development and those repaired abroad are exempted from the restrictions.

Price will increase

At present, leading companies such as Apple, Samsung, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. import equipment parts from abroad and sell them after assembling them in India. Companies can continue importing by obtaining a special license from the central government. This will cause the price of laptops to rise sharply.

Jio Book

New import control will benefit Jio because Reliance Retail recently launched affordable laptops in India under the name 'Jio Book'. Jio Book can be purchased online through Reliance Digital and Amazon for Rs 16,499. It will be available in the market from today. Jio claims that the 4G SIM enabled laptop has many features.