India places 'licensing restrictions' on PC makers to promote local manufacturing

India has decided to impose restrictions on PC manufacturers such as Dell, HP and Lenovo in an attempt to promote its own production.

India sticks to its 'Made in India' motif, plans to reduce PC imports and develop local facilities

Nikkei Asia reports that India has now set a condition for companies to obtain an "import license" from the authorities. While this move aims to make India a self-sustaining nation, it could adversely affect the tech industry. Before this policy, companies could directly import products such as laptops and hardware components without any obstacles. But now they have to go through long processes, resulting in longer waiting times for businesses and consumers.

As highlighted by the source, India's technology imports for the April-June timeline reached $19.6 billion, up 6.25% year-on-year. Every country aims to reduce import bills and with the recent wave of 'Made in India' products initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this new policy seems relevant. Furthermore, the introduction of the new "licensing policy" will also benefit local industries and it is reported that Dixon Technologies (an Indian company for EMS) experienced a 7% increase in shareholding following the news of the policy.

Companies like Acer, LG Electronics, Lenovo and HP must now take further steps forward to facilitate their consumer base in the country. The government has also introduced PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme in India, creating a competitive environment among companies to expand their local manufacturing facilities. India has also imposed import restrictions on mobile phone manufacturers, and promoted in-house manufacturing, exemplified by the rapid expansion of retail chains and facilities of the Cupertino giant (Apple) in India.

Although the exact terms and conditions of the policy have not emerged yet, it is predictable that affected companies will start working on local manufacturing, which will take India a step closer to its target of $300 billion in annual production by 2026.