Govt tweaks import norms for IT hardware

The government on Thursday said it has eased the process of authorisation for importing IT hardware such as laptops, tablets, personal computers and servers, although it remained determined to enforce its August decision of putting these items under "restricted" imports from November 1 mainly for three reasons encouraging domestic production, checking influx of made-in-China products, and ensuring cyber security.

- Aditi Agrawal & Rajeev Jayaswal

The latest move involves an online system to facilitate instant online authorisation for imports under the tariff head 8741 because these items have been put in the 'restricted' category on August 3, 2023, two senior officials said on Thursday.

According to the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023, a restricted item can be imported into the country "only after obtaining an authorisation" from the offices of the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT).

The new set up was put in place after an "extensive interaction" with the industry and "consultation with all stakeholders", ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) secretary S Krishnan told reporters.

The government on August 3 put these specific items from "free" to "restricted" import list with immediate effect, but on request of the industry, deferred its implementation till October 31.

The director general of foreign trade, Santosh Kumar Sarangi, said that specific IT hardware were brought under the restricted list "as part of India's effort to ensure trusted supply chain" and the new regime is set to begin from November 1 with "some tweaking" for ease of compliance through an "end-to end online system".