Government tells IT firms seeking deferral of import licensing regime to submit local production plan

Domestic players said that the Centre expects hardware companies to value-add in the local manufacturing of computers and other devices by nearly 80% in the next few years

The Centre has countered the IT hardware industry’s request to defer the new import licensing norms by 9-12 months, asking the players to submit a plan to ramp up domestic production in phases.

Domestic players that The Hindu Businessline spoke with said that the Centre expects hardware companies to value-add in the local manufacturing of computers and other devices by nearly 80% in the next few years.

Beyond assembling

Moreover, they expect domestic production of IT hardware to move beyond packaging and assembly to the production of unassembled parts of these devices. To that effect, the government has asked IT players to submit phased plans on how production will be ramped up domestically even as discussions continue between the government and the private industry.

On Tuesday, representatives of many global IT hardware manufacturers, including Apple, Asus, and Dell, met with top officials at the Ministry of Electronics and IT, seeking reprieve on the November 1 deadline get import licences for laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, and ultra-small form factor computers and servers.

These IT companies asked the government to defer the import curb by 9-12 months to give them time to ramp up domestic production and understand the licensing process.

Bolstering production

Discussions are also on with domestic IT hardware companies. According to sources, MeitY officials also likely met with Lava and Bhagwati Products to guage their expectations and the likely assistance the state will provide to bolster production.

“Just like during the formulation of the mobile production-linked incentive scheme, the government has asked for a detailed production plan from the IT players, setting out the exact timeline and scale at which domestic manufacturing can be ramped up,” an executive working at an IT hardware firm explained.

The executive added that the discussions are still happening and that companies are seeking more leniency on the timeline and assistance from the Centre for Making-in-India.