Govt imposes 10% custom tax on Smartphone Components

New Delhi, Apr 03: In a major decision as part of PM Modi s Make in India, The Central Bureau of Excise and Customs, imposed the 10% duty on each of the components, through notifications issued on Monday. The wing of the finance ministry also said that input parts for making these components locally, will not attract any import duties.India has imposed a 10 percent tax on imports of key smartphone components including populated printed circuit boards, which are at the heart of smartphones, according to a government document.The government s move on Monday confirmed a Reuters report from last week that the country was exploring new duties on the imports of populated printed circuit boards that include components such as processors, memory and wireless chips.The February decision also included a 10% import duty on PCB of chargers, 15% on LCD panels, and increased duty by 10% to 20% on lithium ion batteries, and by 5% to 15% on chargers, adapters, battery packs, wired headsets, receivers, keypad, antenna, side keys and USB cables.International contract manufacturing companies like Foxconn, Wistron, Flex and handset makers from China, India besides South Korea s Samsung have taken local production of mobile phones to 225 million in 2017, which his more than 80% of the phones sold in the country.The Indian Cellular Association expects a 55% growth in volumes of mobile phones to be made in India in 2018, and an 85% increase in the value of locally made phones to Rs 2.5 lakh crore, over the previous year.The move, part of a phased manufacturing plan for lifting local production of mobile devices, is aimed at boosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi s flagship Make In India drive to turn the country into a manufacturing hub, like neighboring China.