India on Thursday said it would impose a licensing requirement for imports of laptops, tablets, and personal computers with immediate effect, a move that could hit the likes of Apple, Dell, and Samsung hard and force them to boost local manufacturing. The new rule mandates a special license for these products, similar to restrictions India imposed in 2020 for inbound TV shipments, and comes ahead of a festive season when demand typically surges in the country.
While the new rules will make it harder for companies to bring in their devices, those already operating in India will be exempted from the requirements, as will any passenger carrying a laptop or tablet into the country as part of their baggage. The move was also aimed at pushing manufacturers to expand their local production, with the government setting aside financial incentives for such purposes.
According to a government notification, “import of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small form factor computers, servers falling under HSN 8741 shall be restricted, and their import would be allowed only against a valid license for restricted imports.” The notification added that laptops, tablets, and all-in-one computers bought by consumers for R&D, testing, benchmarking and evaluation, repair and return, and product development would be exempt from the requirement as these are considered essential parts of capital goods.
The new rules, likely to affect all electronic and computer devices in India, are a sharp shift in Indian policy and come just months after the country began requiring that most electronic components sold locally meet minimum quality standards and carry a BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard) label. The directives, which have been in place since 2022, respond to rising counterfeiting and quality issues.
In a bid to reduce dependency on foreign suppliers, India’s government in 2018 announced a 170 billion rupee ($2.2 billion) plan of financial incentives for makers of laptops and mobile phones to establish their production facilities. The goal is to make the South Asian nation a global electronics manufacturing hub, with firms looking to move away from China in search of lower costs and more control over their supply chains.
As part of the new rules, a special exemption for up to 20 laptops and tablets per consignment is provided for research, development, and testing purposes. However, these will not be allowed for sale in the market and must either be destroyed beyond use or re-exported after fulfilling their intended purpose.
The ban is expected to impact the sales of imported devices priced in the thousands of rupees, such as Apple’s MacBooks and iPads. It may also force the company to set up its manufacturing plants in the country, a prospect it has so far been reluctant to do.
The new restrictions are expected to hurt companies like Dell and HP that sell cheaper laptops nationwide and disrupt consumer purchasing habits. However, analysts believe they could be short-lived, as the government will likely ease the restrictions later this year or in 2024.
