New guidelines on laptop import policy still under deliberation: Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the new guidelines on India's laptop import policy are still under deliberation by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Asked about the import authorisation system for IT hardware products and what kind of guidelines the government is looking at, Goyal said, "I think, this is still under deliberation. It is handled by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. I am not privy to what is in their mind for the future".

It is pertinent to mention here that in September this year, the government extended the approval system for the import of certain IT hardware products, including laptops and tablets, for three months till December 31.

These imports stood at $8.4 billion in 2023-24 against the authorisation of about $9.5 billion. Most of these imports were coming from China.

"It is clarified that the importers are allowed to apply for import authorisations, which will be valid up to December 31, 2024. Further, the existing import authorisations issued till September 30, 2024, will continue to be valid up to December 31, 2024," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) had said in a policy circular in September.

Importers would be required to apply for fresh authorisations from January 1, 2025, "subject to detailed guidance to be provided shortly".

Meanwhile, Goyal also praised Japan's SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, who had met founders of portfolio companies during his pitstop in Delhi on Wednesday.

"As regards Masayoshi Son is concerned, I very much welcome his announcement to further increase investments in India. I have engaged quite a bit with him when I used to be the Power and Renewable Energy Minister and found him to be a very bold investor who believed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the India story... certainly, India is a country where people have made good returns," the Commerce and Industry Minister said.

India, the minister said, has drawn the world's attention, and global investors are keen to make investments here.

"Wherever we go there is a huge interest, investment appetite to come and invest in India and we would warmly welcome Son to continue to look at India and the possibilities of investment in India," he said about the billionaire founder of Japan's SoftBank Group.

The minister further said that he expects India's goods and services exports to surpass $800 billion in the current financial year 2025, despite geopolitical challenges due to the back-to-back wars as well as the Red Sea crisis.

"In this current year 2024-25, we expect to cross 800 billion dollars of exports for the first time in India's history, in a way despite having inherited such a weak economy, despite the Indian currency being one of the strongest performing currencies amongst all emerging markets and not depreciating... Despite two years of Covid, two international wars and the Red Sea crisis, despite all of these challenges India has doubled its exports during Prime Minister Modi's tenure," said Goyal.