Govt considering imposition of import restrictions on TV sets

The government is mulling imposing import restrictions on television sets with an aim to cut inbound shipments of non-essential items, sources said. Both the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the commerce ministry are discussing a proposal in this regard, they said.

Putting an item under restricted category of imports means that the importer of that commodity would have to seek a licence from the commerce ministry's directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) for the imports. Imports of TV stood at about USD one billion during 2018-19.

China (USD 535 million in 2018-19) is the largest exporter of TV sets in India. It was followed by countries like Vietnam (UD 327 million), Malaysia (USD 109 million), Hong Kong (USD 10.52 million, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Germany. The government is also likely to impose restrictions on imports of furniture with a view to boost domestic manufacturing and reduce inbound shipments of non-essential items.

The government has earlier his month imposed similar restrictions on imports of refined palm oil. Out of over USD 500 billion worth of imports in 2018-19, products imported under 'others' category accounted for over USD 100 billion.