Indian Government imposes a restriction on import of colour TVs, aims to boost local manufacturing

July 31, 2020

Indian Government imposes a restriction on import of colour TVs, aims to boost local manufacturing

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has announced a restriction on the import of colour TVs in India. The import restriction changes the import policy on TVs in India from “free” to “restricted”.

According to the DGFT, “Other colour, Television sets of screen size up to 36 cm, television sets of screen size exceeding 36 cm but not exceeding 54 cm, television sets of screen size exceeding 54 cm but not exceeding 68 cm, television sets of screen size exceeding 68 cm but not exceeding 74 cm, television sets of screen size exceeding 74 cm but not exceeding 87 cm, television sets of screen size exceeding 87 cm but not exceeding 105 cm, television sets of screen size exceeding 105 cm, liquid crystal display television set of screen size below 63 cm and other” will be impacted by the change in the policy.

DGFT has vide Notification No. 22/2015-2020 dated 30.07.2020 notified the change in Import Policy of colour television sets under HS codes 8528 7211 to 8528 7219. For more details, please refer to the link below -https://t.co/ugxp9CPxiW

— DGFT (@dgftindia) July 30, 2020

The statement goes on to say, "Actual user conditions would not be applicable for importers applying for an authorization to import the goods 'Restricted' in this Notification. The procedure for grant of license will be separately issued by DGFT".

Indian Government imposes a restriction on import of colour TVs

When it comes to the TV market, India imported TVs worth $781 million in the year ending 31 March 2020. Over $400 million worth of TVs were imported from Vietnam and nearly $300 million worth of Tvs were imported from China. According to the Economic Times, “around 35% of TV sets sold in the country are imported”.

How this change in policy affects the import of TVs is something only time will tell. It is obvious that the move is done to boost the local manufacturing of TVs in India. Digit reached out to a number of TV brands selling their products in India and the following is what they had to say.

Satish Padmanabhan, Head of Sales at Sony India said, “Sony has been investing heavily to shift local manufacturing of televisions to India since 2015. Currently, we are successfully manufacturing 99% of BRAVIA televisions in India and we are quite satisfied with the production quality, which is at par with global standards and well accepted by our Indian consumers. We have faith in the Government and this step has built the right momentum for India’s journey to becoming self-reliant.”

Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd, a Kodak Brand Licensee and Exclusive Brand Licensee of Thomson TVs in India said, "This is a great move for assembling in India, but for a self-reliant India, we need to complete ecosystem of value addition. We need to have component and panel display manufacturing plant in India." He goes on to say, “The new announcement by DGFT will be a step towards encouraging homegrown brands to invest in manufacturing capabilities within India and lead to more employment, technology advancement and local partnerships”.

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