In an August 3 notification, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had, citing security concerns, announced that the import of certain IT hardware products including laptops, tablets, PCs, servers etc., would fall under the restricted category and would therefore require a licence, effective immediately. After strong pushback, the government extended the timeline to November 1, 2023.
The companies have now been assured by the government that it will provide them with all the required support to scale up local manufacturing under the PLI scheme.
Another executive said that if the import curbs are implemented on November 1, there will be supply constraints and prices would increase. Industry also highlighted to the government that FY23 should not be taken as a benchmark as demand fell more than 25% last fiscal and is yet to pick up to normal levels in the current financial year, which began April 1.