India boosts domestic TV manufacturing

Dubai - The curbs are imposed on TV sets with screen sizes ranging from 36cm to over 105cm.

The government of India on Thursday has imposed restrictions on the imports of colour television sets, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. The move is aimed at promoting domestic manufacturing and give boost to local sector.
"Import policy of colour television... is amended from free to restricted," the directorate-general said in a notification.
Putting an item under a restricted category of imports means the importer of that commodity will have to seek a licence from the commerce ministry's DGFT for imports.
The curbs are imposed on TV sets with screen sizes ranging from 36cm to over 105cm. Liquid crystal display (LCD) television sets of screen sizes below 63cm are also covered under the restrictions.
India imported colour TV sets worth $781 million in 2019-20. Imports from Vietnam and China stood at $428 million and $293 million, respectively, in the last financial year, reported Indian media.
Kamal Vachani, regional director of the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, said: "The Indian government wants to promote local manufacturing and hence this move is welcome under the 'Make in India' initiative. The Modi government's move will certainly help to have a strong positive impact on domestic assembling units."
Endorsing a similar view, Deepak Babani, executive vice-chairman, Eros Group said: "The domestic industry is seeing a rise in production and steps like this will certainly help the local industry in India."
- sandhya@khaleejtimes.com

• India