IT News
Mumbai, July 31:
The Union government imposed restrictions on import of colour Television sets to promote domestic manufacturing and cut inbound shipments of non-essential items from other countries including China, on Thursday.
China is the largest exporter of TV sets in India, followed by countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Germany.
India imported colour TV sets worth USD 781 million in 2019-20. Imports from Vietnam and China stood at USD 428 million and USD 293 million respectively in the last financial year.
In 2018-2019, the imports of TV sets stood at about $1 billion. China ($535 million in 2018-19) was the largest exporter of TV sets in India. It was followed by countries like Vietnam ($327 million), Malaysia ($109 million), Hong Kong ($10.52 million, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Germany.
In a notification dated 30 July,2020, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) stated that the Central Government amends the import policy of items under EXIM code 852872 of chapter 85 of ITC (HS) 2017, schedule I (import policy).
As per the notification the import policy of colour TV sets under HS code from 852872 11 to 19 is amended from “free” to “restricted”. Actual user condition 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.
The restricted items include: TV set of screen size up to 36 cm, TV set of screen size up exceeding 36 cm but not exceeding 54 cm, TV set of screen size up exceeding 54 cm but not exceeding 68 cm, TV set of screen size up exceeding 68 cm but not exceeding 74 cm, TV set of screen size up exceeding 74 cm but not exceeding 87 cm, TV set of screen size up exceeding 87 cm but not exceeding 105 cm and TV set of screen size up exceeding 105 cm and Liquid crystal display TV set of screen size below 63 cm. All the above items were under “free” category earlier.
Putting an item under a restricted category of imports means the importer of that commodity will have to seek licence from the commerce ministry’s DGFT for imports.
It may be recalled that in June 2019, the electronics manufacturing industry had asked the government to ban imports of televisions from Vietnam, which had registered a 25-times jump to Rs 1,500 crore within a year. The industry had also called for changes in the import duty structure.
In the letters dated June 11, 2019 to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) had said that the government was losing close to Rs 1,000 crore in GST alone, owing to the current basic customs duty (BCD) regime, which was encouraging a grey market for colour televisions.
ICEA had also sought a time-bound investigation by an inter-ministerial panel on imports from Vietnam — with which India has a free-trade agreement — in relation to price, quantity, value and special reference to rules of origin.
Basically TV components are imported from China by different manufacturers. LG manufactures TV at its plants in different countries including China and India. Accessories are made in Korea and China and then the components are delivered to the assembly plants. Xiaomi is one of the major Chinese TV set manufacturers.
