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Informist, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The government has extended the monitoring of imports of laptops, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small form factor computers, and servers, by another year till December 2026, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a circular. The application portal where importers have to apply for authorisation to import laptops and servers in the next year will open Monday and close on Dec. 15, 2026.

 

The authorisation issued for imports of the restricted information technology hardware will be valid till Dec. 31, 2026, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said. Importers are also allowed to submit multiple applications to import these restricted items, the circular said. Based on the need, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology may undertake a mid-term review to provide updated inputs on the import management system, the circular added.

 

Since November 2023, the government has allowed the import of these electronic gadgets through a permit system. Under this, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade issues authorisation through an import management system that specifies the quantity and value of imports, which allows the government to monitor real-time imports.

 

The government had initially announced restrictions on the import of laptops, all-in-one personal computers, and ultra-small form factor computers, but it resorted to just monitoring after a backlash from the US. While announcing the import restrictions and then introducing the monitoring system, the government had said that the measure was taken due to security concerns. Another motive for enabling the monitoring system was to gauge import dependency and encourage domestic manufacturing accordingly.

 

There are two production-linked incentive schemes operational in the electronics sector for large-scale electronic goods and IT hardware with a total outlay of INR 556.45 billion. The scheme has been most successful for the large-scale electronics manufacturing sector, with the government releasing over INR 50 billion to manufacturers. 

 

India's electronic goods imports had grown 12.4% on year to $98.73 billion in 2024-25 (Apr-Mar). The export of these goods stood at $38.58 billion during FY25, up 32.5% from the previous year. End

 

US$1 = INR 90.38 

 

Reported by Krity Ambey

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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