The Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced that certain restrictions on imports of laptops, tablets, personal computers, ultra small form factor computers and servers were implemented by the government on Augst 3. However, these restrictions do not apply to imports under baggage rules. The import of these items is allowed with a license, but there are exemptions for specific use cases.
Govt Restricted Import of Laptops, Tablets and PCs
Individuals can import one laptop, tablet, personal computer, or ultra-small form factor computer through online portals, couriers or post without an import license. Moreover, an import license exemption is provided for up to 20 of these items per consignment for purposes like research and development, testing, benchmarking, evaluation, repair and re export and product development. But, the imported goods must be used for the stated purposes only and not be sold. After fulfilling their intended purpose, the products must either be destroyed beyond use or re-exported.
Moreover, if these electronic goods are a part of an “essential” capital, only then the import will be allowed. These restrictions are imposed because of the India’s trade balance pressure, where the merchandise trade deficit exceeded $ 20 billion in the month of May and June.
In the April-June quarter, India’s merchandise imports saw a contraction of 12.7 percent compared to the first quarter of 2022-23, while exports declined by an even larger 15.1 percent. Despite the overall reduction in imports, electronic goods imports rose by 6.3 percent year on year in April to june to $19.76 billion, making them India’s largest import category after petroleum products. On the other hand, India’s export of electronic goods experienced significant growth, surging by 47.1 percent in April-June to $6.96 billion, as per the latest data.