Union Budget: Import taxes cut in boost for electronics production
Indian tariffs on electronics components can be as high as 20%, about 5%-6% more than countries such as China and Malaysia, according to Niti Aayog.
India scrapped import taxes on several electronics components in the federal budget, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration seeks to bolster local manufacturing.
The South Asian country will not charge import taxes on components including parts used in camera modules and those required for assembling printed circuit boards, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament Saturday, while announcing the federal budget for the financial year beginning April 1. India earlier levied a 2.5% duty on the import of these parts.
“Support will be provided to develop domestic manufacturing capacities for our economy’s integration with global supply chains,” she said in her budget speech.
The government also lowered taxes on imports of components such as open cells that are used for making flat panel displays and glass sheets to 5%. Some of these earlier attracted duties of as much as 15%.
Indian tariffs on electronics components can be as high as 20%, about 5%-6% more than countries such as China and Malaysia, according to state think tank Niti Aayog. That gives countries like Vietnam, which have free trade agreements with several nations, a significant cost advantage and poses a challenge to India’s efforts to build large manufacturing complexes and a robust components supply chain.
New Delhi’s latest measures will help companies including Apple Inc. to widen domestic production. To be sure, the Modi administration’s subsides have been key in driving Apple suppliers to expand in India, helping the US tech giant to steadily shift away from China. Apple currently assembles more than 14% of its global iPhone output from India.
