Govt mulling imposition of import restrictions on TV sets; move aim to cut inbound shipments of non-essential items

New Delhi: 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. [caption id=“attachment_5668101” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters.[/caption] Imports of TV stood at about $1 billion during 2018-19. China ($535 million in 2018-19) is the largest exporter of TV sets in India. It was followed by countries like Vietnam ($327 million), Malaysia ($109 million), Hong Kong ($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 $500 billion worth of imports in 2018-19, products imported under ‘others’ category accounted for over $100 billion.