India to relax import-export rules to attract manufacturers for electronics repair

New Delhi, May 31 (KNN) India will relax its import-export rules to start a pilot project this week to establish itself as an electronics repair hub, reported Indian Express.

With this the government aims to lure major electronics manufacturers in the country.

India has managed to attract giants like Apple and Xiaomi but it still lacks an industry for repair outsourcing which is estimated to be worth USD 100 billion globally and currently dominated by China and Malaysia.

According to a report by Indian Express, the Indian government will test changes to lower the time required for necessary approvals for imports and exports to a day from as much as 10 days.

Manufacturers’ Association For Information Technology (MAIT), an industry group for IT and electronics manufacturers pushed for this pilot project.

Some of the key challenges in India also include an e-waste mandate that bans companies from locally disposing non-repairable products – adding to their logistics costs as they have to be sent back.

The government will now allow recycling of 5 per cent of imported goods domestically on a trial basis.

In the pilot phase, which will see participation from companies including Lenovo and Cisco, India will also permit re-export of the imported electronics goods to countries different from the original one – currently it is banned under foreign trade rules.  (KNN Bureau)