It is damn true when we say that India is banning laptop imports and it will be implemented immediately. Indians have been given time till 31st October, after which the government has given instructions to the companies to make the laptops in India with the help of a Production Linked Incentive. As the government applied this immediately, we saw a very high rise in the price of the laptops. This led to the decision to keep the imports till 31st October, after which any import of laptops is banned by the government.
All the major companies have already applied for Production Linked Incentive and the last date to apply was 31st August. However, it is seen that Apple and Samsung have not applied for PLI. Thus, it leads to our concern that, soon after October 31st as the implications on imports will be implemented, will prices increase. It is assumed that as Apple have not applied for PLI this will lead to an increase in the price of MacBooks.
What will be the effect of this ban on Apple’s and Samsung’s products?
As we know, until now, Apple had no manufacturing process for MacBooks in India. Thus, , leads to the assumption that soon after 31st October the prices will be very high. Until now, all the MacBooks, Apple’s laptops were, imported from Vietnam or China. However, the scenario changes for Apple phones, which are manufactured in India and will increase in scale.
There is no accurate information on Apple’s and Samsung’s decision on choosing not to apply for PLI scheme . The plan could be different from what other big companies are currently thinking may be. It may be possible that they are planning to get a special permit for the import of laptops, but keeping all companies aside this might become very challenging. We can overall see a huge rise in the price.
It is also possible that Apple and Samsung are planning to manufacture laptops in India without applying to the PLI scheme. However, it is highly possible that soon we will witness a rise in the prices of MackBooks. It will rise based on the delay of the permission Apple will get for imports or if the supply channel is disrupted.
What is happening in the PLI Scheme?
It was said by the IT Minister that Apple and Samsung are surprisingly missing from the list despite that the PLI scheme has received a great response from companies like ASUS, Lenovo, Dell International, Acer, Hewlett-Packard (HP), etc. Ashwini Vaishnaw, IT Minister, also mentioned that more than 32 big companies have already signed up for the scheme, making it a big success already.
The main aim of this change in the import system is to boost the Make in India program, according to the government. As seen, this ban on the imports of laptops is a big step which will lead to a great boost in the production of products made within India. We all know that high-end machines and all types of laptops are imported. Thus, to change this setting the government is taking a big step.
According to the notice issues, items like All-in-one personal computers, Laptops, tablets, etc. are restricted from import. It is only allowed against a valid license for restricted imports. The idea of the government was to ban it instantly. However, it was decided that it would be implemented after 31st October.