India takes U-turn on restricting laptop imports: ‘Government only wants importers to be on close watch’

India’s trade secretary Sunil Barthwal said the Narendra Modi government “only wants importers to be on close watch”.

• Shubham
• 13 October, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

THE Indian government has decided to roll back its previous plan to impose restrictions on importing laptops, months after abruptly coming up with such plans that came under criticism from industry and the US.

“India will not impose restrictions on laptop imports,” the country’s trade secretary Sunil Barthwal told a press conference on Friday (13).

He said the government “only wants importers to be on close watch”.

The import licensing regime, which was announced on August 3, looked to “ensure trusted hardware and systems” enter India, but it was delayed by three months following objections from industry and criticism by Washington.

It would affect companies such as Dell, HP, Apple, Samsung and Lenovo.

The government is also having talks with the industry and a new order on laptop imports will be announced by the end of this month, Santosh Kumar Sarangi, directorate general of foreign trade under India’s commerce ministry, said.

(With Reuters inputs)