The government on Monday imposed a 10% duty on import of key smartphone components like camera module and printed circuit board assembly, with a view to boost domestic manufacturing.
NSE
Earlier in the Budget 2018-19, the government had increased customs duty on mobile phones to 20% from 15%.
Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance tabled notification documents in this regard in the Lok Sabha which seek to "withdraw exemption from basic customs duty (BCD) on printed circuit board assembly, camera module and connectors of cellular mobile phones and impose 10% BCD on them...".
At present there is zero import duty imposed on the three components.
In another notification, the revenue department has increased the basic import duty on populated, loaded or stuffed printed circuit boards, related to telephones (including mobile phones) from nil to 10%.
India is now the second largest mobile phone producer in the world after China, as per information shared by the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) with Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.