RESTRICTIONS ON PERSONAL COMPUTERS/LAPTOP  IMPORTS

• Import of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, and ‘ultra small form factor’ computers and servers falling under HSN 8741 will be ‘restricted’ and their import would be allowed against a valid licence for restricted imports, the notification said.
• Also, exemption from import licencing requirements has been given for import of one laptop, tablet, all-in-one personal computer or ultra small form factor computer, including those purchased from e-commerce portals through post or courier. Imports will attract payment of duty as applicable
• The government has also exempted laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, and ultra small form factor computers from import licencing requirements if they are essential part of capital goods.
• For the purpose of R&D (research and development), testing, benchmarking and evaluation repair and re-export, and product development purposes, the government has given exemption from import licence for imports up to 20 items per consignment. 
• The condition, however, would be that these imports will be allowed only for use for the stated purposes and not for sale. “Further, after the intended purpose, the products would either be destroyed beyond use or re-exported,”

• The move is being seen as a direct boost to the Centre’s recently renewed production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware.
• A senior government official said that the measure is to push companies to manufacture locally in India, as the country looks to strengthen its domestic production prowess in the electronics sector
• The scheme was revised in May with an outlay of Rs 17,000 crore, more than doubling the budget for the scheme that was first cleared in 2021.
• The push is aimed at makers of laptops, servers and personal computers among others – since a majority of the imports in these segments are from China.
• India has seen an increase in imports of electronic goods and laptops/computers in the last few years.
• During April-June this year, the import of electronic goods increased to $6.96 billion from $4.73 billion in the year-ago period, with a share of 4-7 per cent in overall imports.
• Of the seven categories restricted for imports by India, the majority share of imports is from China

• The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is a government incentive program launched by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, to boost domestic manufacturing and attract investments in select sectors.
• The scheme offers incentives to companies on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India
• The PLI scheme was first launched in April 2020 for the large scale electronics manufacturing sector.
• It has since been extended to 14 sectors, including automobiles, textiles, food processing, and pharmaceuticals
• The incentive under the PLI scheme is typically a percentage of the incremental sales of the manufactured goods.
• The percentage varies depending on the sector and the product. For example, the PLI for the mobile phone manufacturing sector is 4% to 6% of the incremental sales
• The PLI scheme is a performance-linked incentive, which means that the companies only receive the incentive if they meet certain production and export targets.
• This helps to ensure that the incentives are used effectively and that they actually lead to increased production and exports.
• The PLI scheme has been a major success. It has attracted billions of dollars of investment in the manufacturing sector and has led to significant increases in production and exports. The scheme has also created millions of jobs.
• The PLI scheme is a key part of the government's efforts to make India a manufacturing hub. It is expected to play a major role in the country's economic growth in the coming years