Mint Explainer: Why is India using import curbs as a policy tool?

livemint.com:

foreign trade policy advocates the concept of trusted value chain in electronics, which will help address concerns related to bugs and data theft from equipment used in India. According to the commerce ministry, India imported computer hardware and peripherals worth ₹7,255 crore, and electronic components worth ₹8,200 crore from China last fiscal. The government is keen on achieving self-reliance in manufacturing and also tapping greater export opportunities.

Experts believe that large electronics exporters could drag India to the WTO. However, the government has ruled out the possibility, saying countries are allowed to take such short-term measures in the interest of national security. Explaining the government’s move, Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that unlike in the case of mobile phones and information and communications technology (ICT) goods, India could not have raised the import duty on laptops, PCs and tablets owing to the Information Technology Agreement, which it signed in 1997.

Therefore, the only way to curb imports was to require firms to obtain a government licence before importing. Restrictions on laptop imports are largely aimed at boosting the government’s flagship production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for hardware manufacturing. In May the government introduced a revised ₹17,000-crore PLI scheme for IT hardware to attract manufacturers of laptops, tablets, and other hardware to India, after the first version, which had a lower allocation, failed to take off.