Import duty on LCD/LED TV panels down to 5 per cent
By Express News Service | Published: 25th March 2018 05:22 AM |
Last Updated: 25th March 2018 05:23 AM | A+A A- |
NEW DELHI: After imposing import duty of 15 per cent on Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panels in the Budget, the government has halved customs duty on open cell used in the manufacturing of LCD and Light Emitting Diode (LED) television panels from 10 per cent to five per cent, to boost domestic manufacturing.“Open cell (15.6 inch and above) for use in the manufacture of LCD and LED TV panels would attract five per cent customs duty,” says a Central Board of Excise and Customs notification.
The government claims that the move is aimed at boosting the local manufacturing of the LCD panels in India and to cut heavy import bills on electronic items.
India’s import bill on electronic goods stood at `25,942.92 crore in February this year, up by 14.16 per cent from February last year. In fact, this is what triggered the government to impose 15 per cent duty on import of LCD panels.Following the announcement, the LED and LCD TV manufacturers told that they would hike the cost of TV by eight to nine per cent, owing to high input cost.Abhishek Jain, partner, Ernst & Young, said that lowering of the customs duty rate on open cells used for manufacturing LCD and LED panels from 10 per cent to five per cent should boost domestic manufacturing of such panels vis-a-vis direct imports.
According to TV manufacturers, the flat panel constitutes over half the cost of a TV set. As there is no big flat panel manufacturing unit in India, TV manufacturers are solely dependent on imports from mainly China and Taiwan.The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had announced the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme to give incentives to firms setting up manufacturing units in India. However, the scheme failed to generate substantial interest as the investment for setting up LED, LCD panels were high and margins were low.Eventually, after the initial`100 billion funds were exhausted, there was no fresh allocation.
Rise and fall of customs import duty
● LCD, LED panels were exempt from customs. 7.5% customs duty was imposed in December 2017
● The rate was further hiked to 15% in this year’s Budget, owing to high import bills on electronics item from China and Taiwan
● India’s total imports of electronic goods stood at `2,5942.92 crore in February, up 14.16% from last year
