India's decision to introduce licence requirement for laptops, PC import will boost domestic manufacturing: IT Minister

Information Technology (IT) Minister  Rajeev Chandrasekhar on August 4 said that India's decision to introduce licence requirements for the import of laptops, tablets, and personal computers will boost domestic manufacturing and ensure that its tech ecosystem uses only verified systems.

The Minister's statement comes after India announced that there will be a licence requirement for the import of laptops, tablets, and personal computers with immediate effect. 

He further said that India is becoming one of the world's fastest-growing markets for Digital products including Laptops, Servers, etc.

''This is not at all abt license raj - It is about regulating imports to ensure trusted and verifiable systems AND  ensuring India tech eco-system uses trusted and verified systems only that are imported and/or domestically manufactured trusted systems or products,'' he tweeted.

As per Chandrasekhar, India, and tech-savvy people will consume millions of digital products in the coming Techade.

''Rapid digitilization/cloudification of our economy and rapid growth of our digital economy is fueling demand growth. It is government's objective to ensure trusted hardware and systems, reduce import dependance and increase domestic mfg of this category of products,'' he added.

➡️India is becomng one of worlds fastest growing markets for Digital products includng Laptops, Servers etc.

➡️India and DigitalNagriks will consume millions of Digital products in coming Techade.

➡️Rapid digitilization / cloudification of our economy AND rapid growth of our… https://t.co/gdMcNnsEUT

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) August 4, 2023

It is worth mentioning that this move can give tough competition to companies like Apple, Dell, and Samsung.

The current rules in the country allow companies to import laptops freely, but the new rule mandates a special license for these products, similar to the ban India imposed for inbound TV shipments in 2020.

However, the government, in its notification on August 3, did not give any reason for the move, which could affect tech companies like Apple, Dell, and Samsung and force them to promote local manufacturing.

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