Edited by: Bharat Upadhyay
Last updated: February 01, 2023, 1:58 PM IST
Government offers exemptions from customs duties on key mobile phone components.
The finance minister said the move is to further deepen domestic value addition in mobile phone manufacturing.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that the central government has reduced basic customs duties (BCD) on imports of certain mobile phone parts and inputs such as camera lenses and continued the concessional levy on lithium-ion battery cells for another year during its Union Budget 2023-24 speech in Parliament.
The finance minister said this move will further deepen domestic value addition in mobile phone manufacturing. She also proposed reducing the basic customs duty on parts of open cells of TV panels to 2.5 percent to promote added value in television production.
“Mobile phone production in India had increased from 5.8 crore units worth about Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to 31 crore units worth more than Rs 2,75,000 crore in the last financial year, as result of various government initiatives, including the ‘Phased Manufacturing Programme’,” Nirmala Sitharaman said in parliament.
According to Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, the reduction of customs duties on imports of certain mobile phone parts is a welcome step and will give further impetus to deepen domestic value addition and promote the development of electronics. ecosystem components in India.
“Reducing basic customs duties on open cell parts of TV panels to 2.5% will again further promote the local added value of TVs in India,” said Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint
He also said front and rear camera lenses contribute about 1 percent of the phones’ total BoM. “Including exemption from customs duty on certain parts and inputs will reduce the overall price for a mobile phone to 1-1.1 percent,” Pathak added.
A. Gururaj, MD, Optiemus Electronics Ltd, said: This year’s budget is a major effort to consolidate the Indian economy in post-pandemic dynamics. Increasing the personal tax exemption limit will certainly boost consumption and the electronics industry will certainly benefit. Continuing the reduction of import duties on camera lens and batteries for mobile production is a welcome step and will continue to fuel India’s remarkable growth in domestic production.”
During the presentation of the 2023 Budget, the Center also announced to set up 100 laboratories in the best technical settings to develop 5G apps and services. “To realize new opportunities, business models and employment potential, the 5G labs will include applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems and healthcare applications,” the finance minister said in her speech.
Read all the latest technical news here
