In efforts to check widening current account deficit (CAD) by curbing imports, the government has again hiked the import duty on several electronic items and telecom equipment. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBIC) said the increased duties would be effective from October 12. This is the second round of import duty hike announced by the government in a little over a fortnight.
Import duty on populated, loaded or stuffed printed circuit boards of all goods other than mobile phones, base station and optical transport equipments has been raised to 10%. Duty has also been raised to 20% from 10% for base stations and for machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus other than modems, voice frequency telegraphy, digital loop carrier systems and multiplexers.
The import duty has also been hiked on certain inputs used in the communication industry like Printer Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA). The government had on September 26 doubled the import duty on 19 items, including air conditioners, household refrigerators and washing machines (less than 10 kg), to 20%. The CAD widened to 2.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2018-19.