“Importers would be required to apply for fresh authorisations for the period of January 1, 2025 subject to detailed guidance to be provided shortly,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a policy circular.
The deadline for review of the system is September 30. ET had reported on Tuesday that the government is contemplating extending the import authorisation system with the ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) favouring such an extension.
The imports of these products were $8.4 billion in 2023-24 against the authorisation of around $9.5 billion.
As per officials, the monitoring showed that the rest of the imports came from Hong Kong and south east Asia with the US’ contribution being $500-600 million.
“It is clarified that the importers are allowed to apply for import authorisations which will be valid up to December 31, 2024,” the DGFT said. Further, the existing import authorisations issued till September 30, 2024, will continue to be valid up to December 31, 2024.On August 3, 2023, the government first imposed the import restrictions on laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small form factor computers, and servers.After the industry flagged concerns over the curbs, the government in October last year rolled out an import management/ authorisation for imports of these products to monitor their inbound shipments without hurting market supply.
The importers are allowed to apply for multiple authorisations and those authorisations would be valid up to September 30, 2024. The authorisations will be issued for any number of consignments for imports till September.
The government has cleared about 110 applications as part of the system. Dell International Services India, Apple India, HP India Sales Pvt Ltd, Lenovo (India), ASUS India, IBM India, Samsung India Electronics, Xiaomi Technology India, Cisco Commerce India, Siemens Ltd and Bosch Ltd, are some of the countries which have received the authorisation.
Commenting on the development, think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that India’s repeated delay in implementing laptop import restrictions, likely influenced by US concerns, needs to end.
“It’s time for India to enforce these measures and boost local production. Such restrictions would push American tech giants like Apple, Dell, and HP, which manufacture in China, to set up operations in India,” GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said.