India ‘bans’ China-made laptops: Govt has this update to share

In August 2023, the Indian government restricted the import of laptops, tablets, and personal computers. The import was only allowed with a valid licence. After several reported concerns, the government on October 19 tweaked the import rules for laptops and computers. Now, a new a new report from the Commerce Ministry has come forward which highlights the decline in imports of personal computers from China. Know what the report said.

Laptop import report

According to the Commerce Ministry report, personal laptop imports from China have decreased by 3 percent in India. Additionally, the overall PC import has also experienced a decline from other neighbouring countries by 55 percent year-on-year to USD 1.06 billion. This decline was reported between November to February 2024, which almost reached USD 917 million. This data was also compared to the previous quarter ( July-October) which shows a 48 percent decline. This decline came after the new import regulations applied in August which required authorization to import laptops and computers. 

Also read: iPhone sales slump by 24 pct in China amidst competition from Huawei

However, the regulations were soon curbed due to several concerns reported by the importers. now importers are allowed to submit multiple authorizations which will be valid till September 2024. The report also highlighted that on November 1, the government approved 110 of 111 applications which is almost all the electronic products such as laptops and computers to be imported into the country. This product's authorization was reported to be worth USD 10 billion. 

Also read: India IT ministry fears losing out to China, Vietnam in smartphone exports race

The new government regulations had a major impact on the imports of personal computers causing serious consequences, resulting in a major decline. 

About previous import rules 

The import rules announced in August restricted the import of laptops, tablets, and personal computers without a valid licence or authorization. The government said, “Import of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, and ultra small form factor computers and servers falling under HSN 8741 shall be ‘restricted’ and their import would be allowed against a valid licence for restricted imports.” Later in October, this rule was dissolved. 

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