Make in India: Curbs on computer imports

Importers will need permits to bring in laptops, tablets, servers

- Ravi Dutta Mishra, Gulveen Aulakh & Suneera Tandon

India imposed import restrictions on laptops, tablets, and servers to establish the country as a hub for electronics manufacturing amid surging imports. Effective immediately, importers will need permits to bring in laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small computers, and servers, a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said. Personal computers (PCs) designated “capital goods" may be exempt, the agency added.

The move, which is set to significantly hit companies such as Apple Inc., Dell Inc., Lenovo, and HP that are hugely reliant on imports, is part of broader Indian efforts to curb imports and promote local manufacturing under the government’s Make in India programme. Imports of laptops have increased to $8 billion as of March 2023, according to official figures.

In May, the government introduced a revised ₹17,000 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware to attract makers of laptops, tablets, and other hardware to India.

India has also taken several other steps to curb imports from China by introducing quality control orders (QCO). Electronics imports from China was at $27.6 billion in FY23.

“The latest decision to restrict imports of IT hardware appears part of a broader strategic push towards encouraging domestic manufacturing in key sectors, where India is hoping to increase its share in global supply chains. Incentivising domestic and foreign companies to manufacture these goods in India will be the likely next move," said Deepa Kumar, the head of Asia-Pacific country risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence.