NEW DELHI: Laptop manufacturers on Tuesday urged the government to give them a longer transition period to start manufacturing in the country.
The representatives of companies like Dell, Acer, Samsung, Panasonic, Apple, Lenovo, and HP on Tuesday met Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar at his home and raised various concerns related to the requirement of licences to import laptops, tablets, personal computers and other electronic items.
The companies said that they will take at least 6-12 months to start manufacturing in India. Therefore, they have requested more time for the transition. Representatives of the companies also sought more clarity on the procurement of the licence.
The government on August 4 made a sudden announcement putting import curbs on personal computers, laptops and tablets. The government mandated a requirement of licence for bulk imports of these goods. However, it was forced to defer its decision to November 1 after public outcry against the move.
The government asked the companies to start manufacturing in the country as soon as possible. The minister also directed the companies to avail of PLI incentives of Rs 17,000 crore allocated for electronics hardware. According to the people who attended the meeting, the government admitted to the haste in bringing the notification curbing imports.
Experts believe the move to put import restrictions stemmed from the need to give a boost to the PLI scheme for large electronics. After the successful implementation of the PLI scheme for mobile manufacturing in the country, the government launched a similar scheme for large hardware, but it failed to generate the same response.
The government had to re-launch the scheme in June this year doubling the incentives to Rs 17,000 crore. So far, only two companies including HP have filed applications under the scheme as on July 31.