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The announcement was made by DGFT in an attempt to promote local manufacturing and to produce jobs.
The Indian government on Thursday imposed restrictions on color TV imports coming from various countries to India.
This is another blow to China from Indian side as 36% of India’s color TV imports come from China and south East Asian countries.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has announced the decision on Thursday to check the Chinese influx of color TV’s into India.
India has banned 59 Chinese apps recently after the Chinese troops attacked Indian soldiers in Galwan valley.
The decision by the Indian government will encourage local manufacturing of color TV sets and will also provide employment under the Atma Nirbhar Abhiyan. India’s restriction on imports also means that the global companies interested in exporting TV’s will have to carry a mandatory license issued by the Indian government.
India has a Rs.15000 crore TV industry and over 36% of the TV’s are imported from China through third parties which are under Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. The government has taken the decision to restrict the imports in order to stop this illegal trading.
Besides China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Germany are the main exporters of color TV’s to India.
The ASEAN FTA was signed in 2009 with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Singapore.
The Indian government official said to the media that the government has made all the necessary arrangements to boost local manufacturing under the Self-Reliant India initiative and will also involve global manufacturers to set up their units in the country.
India’s electronic industry grew from $29 billion in 2014 to $70 billion in 2019, according to the sources of Ministry of Electronics and Technology.
The officials also say that the procedure for acquiring license for imports will be tedious considering the risks involved. Though there’s only a restriction imposed, gaining license for exporting products to India will involve a huge process and would be a tough thing.
Many local manufacturers and companies have appreciated the move by the Indian government and said that this decision would stop dumping color TV’s into Indian market and would also cut inbound shipments of non-essential items from China and other Asian countries.
PM Modi has been encouraging people to implement the Make in India initiative since the pandemic has took over the country and also after Chinese aggression along the Indian borders.
According to reports, the US also wants to follow Indian footsteps and is ready to ban Tik Tok, the app which has most of its user base from India and the US. It is going to be a very tough time for China in the coming years, according to reports.
By Gayatri Yellayi
