Importing Laptops Into India Will Now Require a Permit

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By Rajesh Roy

(The Wall Street Journal) — India is making it harder to import laptops, tablets and other consumer-electronics devices in a move intended to boost local manufacturing and curb imports from China, government and industry officials said.

India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday that imports of laptops and other personal-computing devices would now require permits, making the import process far more onerous.

“There were concerns related to security of hardware in some of these imported products. So, in the digital security interest of India, we have taken this step,” said an Indian government official with direct knowledge of the matter. “The fallout of this could also be that the companies start looking at local manufacturing.”

The move is widely seen as aimed at getting more global electronics-makers to sign on to the country’s Make in India program, which offers incentives for manufacturing electronics and other high-tech goods locally, with eligible companies standing to recoup millions of dollars of their investments. The country initially targeted the program at smartphones and has since expanded it to other areas, including drones and semiconductors as well as tech hardware.