Indian smartphone manufacturers welcome the government's decision on basic custom duty

Domestic smartphone players on 1 July hailed the government's decision to impose 10 percent basic customs duty (BCD) on cellular mobile phones and specified parts like charger, battery, wire headset, microphone and receiver, keypad and USB cable to protect local manufacturers. “With the custom duty increase on the completely built unit (CBU) imports of mobile handsets, the government has shown its intent to support the ‘Make in India’ initiative. We are thankful to the government for this bold step just before the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST),” Rajeev Jain, Director and CFO, Intex Technologies, told IANS. The BCD of 10 percent will also be imposed on certain other electronic goods, the finance ministry statement said, without specifying the items. “The present exemption from basic customs duty on specified parts of mobiles, namely, printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), camera module, connectors display assembly, touch panel/cover glass assembly, vibrator moto/ringer will continue,” the statement added. “Further, inputs and raw material for the manufacturing of parts of above-specified electronics goods including mobile phones will also continue to be exempt from BCD,” it said. Gaurav Nigam, Senior Vice President, Head of Product, Lava International, told IANS “As of now, we do not expect any change in prices of Lava mobile phones post the legislation of GST. Customer centricity is our focus area and hence we plan to retain the same prices; this is just to ease the purchase of our products for all our customers.” According to Jain, the implementation of GST is a historic step. “This move will avoid cascading effect of double taxation, bring more transparency and give a boost to the overall industry growth in the long run,” Jain added.