Lok Sabha Question No. 4528 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: Apple iphone and ipad
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: K. Shanmuga Sundaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4528

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2022

## APPLE iPHONE AND iPAD

## 4528.  SHRI SHANMUGA SUNDARAM K.:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has denied permission for import of used Apple iphone and ipads which are sold as Apple certified and pre-owned after repair by the original equipment manufacturer;
- (b) if so, the details of the reasons for such rejection and the guidelines for import of electronic items;
- (a) whether aforesaid electronic multinational will be instructed to manufacture these items in India under Make in India policy of the Government;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is considering import of electronic items for warranty replacement; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a) and  (b):  Yes,  Sir.  An  application  from  M/s  Apple  India  Limited  was  received  in  Ministry  of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in April, 2015 seeking permission for import of used Apple I-Phone and I-pads which are sold as Apple Certified and Pre-owned after repair by the original equipment manufacturer. The matter was discussed in the Technical Review Committee in its 37th meeting held during June, 2015 which deliberated upon the proposal with respect to Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008. The Committee so far has not recommended import of old consumer electronic items like mobile, lap-tops, televisions etc. for the purpose of trading.  The Committee noted that the items proposed to be imported are known to have  short  functional  life  and  are  prone  to  become  obsolete  in  short  period  of  time.    Therefore, generation  of  e-waste  would  become  quicker  in  the  country.    The  Committee  therefore,  did  not recommend import of such items for trading purpose.

Import of electronic items in the country is subject to the permission / Registration / authorization under the following regulations wherever applicable:

- (i)  Import Policy:  ITC (HS), 2022, Schedule - I (Import Policy) and Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 notified by Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
- (ii) Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021 notified by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- (iii) Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 (HWM Rule) and e-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 notified by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC).
- (iv) In addition, as indicated in Para 2.03 of Foreign  Trade  Policy,  2015-2020,  Domestic Laws/Rules/Orders/Regulations/Technical  Specifications/  Environmental/Safety  and  health  norms applicable to domestically produced goods shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to imports,unless specifically exempted.
- (c)  and (d):  Government of India's goal is to make India a significant design and manufacturing hub. In pursuance of this, we are  broadening and deepening our electronic manufacturing ecosystem under the aegis of AtmaNirbhar Bharat. Mobile Phones, IT hardware, Television sets are a few thrust areas wherein Government is promoting domestic manufacturing. The steps taken in this regard are placed at Annexure.
- (e)    and  (f):  As  per  the  Hazardous  and  other  Wastes  (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, (i) Used electrical and electronic assemblies imported for repair and to be re-exported back  after  repair  within  one  year  of  import,  and  (ii)  Spares  imported  for  warranty  replacements provided equal number of defective or non-functional parts are exported back within one year of the import falls under Part 'D' of Scheduled - III (B1110) of the said rules and not require permission for import from MOEF&CC. However, import is permitted in the country only to the actual users from Original  Equipment  Manufacturers  (OEM)  and  subject  to  verification  of  documents  specified  in Schedule VIII of these rules by the Custom Authority.

Further, as per the Para 2.31 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-20, refurbished/re-conditioned spares of  re-furbished  parts  of  Personal  Computers/  Laptops  is  restricted  and  refurbished  /  re-conditioned spares of Capital Goods is free.

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## Steps taken by the Government to promote the electronics hardware manufacturing sector in the country

1. National Policy on Electronics 2019 : The National Policy on Electronics 2019 (NPE 2019) has been notified by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The vision of NPE 2019  is  to  position  India  as  a  global  hub  for  Electronics  System  Design  and  Manufacturing (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including chipsets, and creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally.

To attract and incentivize large investments in the electronics value chain and promote exports, following Schemes have been notified:

(i)  Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI)for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing notified vide Gazette Notification  No.CG-DL-E-01042020-218990  dated  April  01,  2020 provides  an  incentive  of  4%  to  6%  to  eligible  companies  on  net  incremental  sales  (over  base year)  involved  in  mobile  phone  manufacturing  and  manufacturing  of  specified  electronic components, including Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units, for a period of five (5) years.

- (ii)  Production  Linked  Incentive  Scheme  (PLI)  for  IT  Hardware notified  vide  Gazette Notification No.CG-DL-E-03032021-225613 dated March 03, 2021 provides an incentive of 4% to 2% / 1% on net incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under  the  target  segment,  to  eligible  companies,  for  a  period  of  four  (4)  years.  The  Target Segments  under  PLI  Scheme  include  (i)  Laptops  (ii)  Tablets  (iii)  All-in-One  PCs  and  (iv) Servers.
- (iii) Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors  (SPECS) notified  vide  Gazette  Notification  No.CG-DL-E-01042020-218992 dated April 01, 2020 provides financial incentive of 25% on capital expenditure for the identified list  of  electronic  goods  that  comprise  downstream  value  chain  of  electronic  products,  i.e., electronic components, semiconductor / display fabrication units, ATMP units, specialized subassemblies and capital goods for manufacture of aforesaid goods.
- (iv) Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme notified vide Gazette Notification No.CG-DL-E-01042020-218991 dated April 01, 2020 provides support for creation of world class infrastructure along with common facilities and amenities, including Ready Built Factory (RBF)  sheds / Plug and Play facilities for attracting major global electronics manufacturers along with their supply chain to set up units in the country. The Scheme provides financial assistance for setting up of both EMC projects and Common Facility Centres (CFCs) across the country.

(v)  Semiconductor  and  Display  Manufacturing  Schemes: The  Union  Cabinet  chaired  by Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  Shri  Narendra  Modi  approved  the  comprehensive  program  with  an outlay of INR 76,000 crore (> USD 10 billion) on 15.12.2021 for the development of robust and sustainable Semiconductor and Display ecosystem in the country whereby the following schemes were introduced:

-  Semiconductor & Display Fabs scheme extends fiscal support for setting up Semiconductor & display Fab which is aimed at attracting large investments for setting up semiconductor  wafer  fabrication  facilities  and  display  panels  in  the  country,  and  thus helping in the establishment of a trusted value chain.
-  Compound  Semiconductors  /  Silicon  Photonics  /  Sensors  Fab  and  Semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) / OSAT Facilities Scheme extends fiscal  support  of  30%  of  the  Capital  Expenditure  investment  for  setting  up  of  the  said facilities.
-  Design Linked Incentive Scheme offers financial incentives, design infrastructure support across various stages of  development  and  deployment  of  semiconductor  design  for Integrated  Circuits  (ICs),  Chipsets,  System  on  Chips  (SoCs),  Systems  &  IP  Cores  and semiconductor linked design.
-  Approval  was  granted  for  the  setting  up  of India  Semiconductor  Mission  (ISM) as  an Independent Business Division within Digital India Corporation having administrative and financial  autonomy  to  drive  India's  strategies  for  developing  semiconductors  and  display manufacturing ecosystem. Envisioned to be led by global experts in the Semiconductor and Display industry, the ISM will serve as the nodal agency for efficient, coherent and smooth implementation of the schemes centred around Semiconductors and Display ecosystem, in consultation with the Government ministries/departments/agencies, industry, and academia.
2. 100% FDI: As per extant Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, FDI up-to 100% under the automatic route is permitted for electronics manufacturing (except from countries sharing land border with India), subject to applicable laws / regulations; security and other conditions.
3.  Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC) Scheme: Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC)  Scheme:  Electronics  Manufacturing  Clusters  Scheme  was  notified  on  22nd  October, 2012 to provide support for creation of world-class infrastructure along with common facilities and amenities for attracting investment. Under the Scheme, 19 Greenfield EMCs and 3 Common Facility Centres (CFCs) measuring an area of 3,464 acres with total project cost of INR 3,732 crore including Government Grant-in-Aid of INR 1,529 crore have been approved.
4. Electronics Development Fund (EDF): Electronics Development Fund (EDF) has been set up as a 'Fund of Funds' to participate in professionally managed 'Daughter Funds' which in turn will provide risk capital to startups and companies developing new technologies in the area of  electronics  and  Information  Technology  (IT).  This  fund  is  expected  to  foster  R&D  and innovation in these technology sectors. EDF is expected to invest in 8 Daughter Funds. The total targeted corpus of these 8 Daughter Funds was Rs. 2,176 crore and the amount committed by EDF to these 8 Daughter Funds was Rs. 271.30 crore.
5.  Phased  Manufacturing  Programme  (PMP) has  been  notified  to  promote  domestic  value addition in mobile phones and their sub-assemblies / parts manufacturing. As a result, India has rapidly  started  attracting  investments  into  this  sector  and  significant  manufacturing  capacities have been set up in the country. The manufacturing of mobile phones has been steadily moving from  Semi  Knocked  Down  (SKD)  to  Completely  Knocked  Down  (CKD)  level,  thereby progressively increasing the domestic value addition.
6.  Tariff  Structure  has  been  rationalized to  promote  domestic  manufacturing  of  electronic goods,  including,  inter-alia,  Cellular  mobile  phones,  Televisions,  Electronic  components,  Set Top Boxes for TV, LED products and Medical electronics equipment.
7.  Exemption  from  Basic  Customs  Duty  on  capital  goods: Notified  capital  goods  for manufacture  of  specified  electronic  goods  are  permitted  for  import  at  'NIL'  Basic  Customs Duty.
8.  Simplified import of used plant and machinery: The import of used plant and machinery having a residual life of at least 5  years for use by the electronics manufacturing industry has been  simplified  through  the  amendment  of  Hazardous  and  Other  Wastes  (Management  and Transboundary  Movement)  Rules,  2016,  vide  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate Change Notification dated 11.06.2018.
9. Relaxing the ageing restriction: The Department of Revenue vide Notification No.60/2018Customs dated 11.09.2018 has amended the Notification No.158/95-Customs dated 14.11.1995, relaxing the ageing restriction from  3 years to 7 years for specified electronic  goods manufactured in India and re-imported into India for repairs or reconditioning.
10. Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017: To encourage 'Make in India' and to promote manufacturing and production of goods and services in India with a view to  enhancing  income  and  employment,  the  Government  has  issued  Public  Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017 vide the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal  Trade  (DPIIT)  Order  dated  15.06.2017  and  subsequent  revisions  vide  Orders  dated 28.05.2018,  29.05.2019,  04.06.2020  and  16.09.2020.  In  furtherance  of  the  aforesaid  Order, MeitY has notified mechanism for calculating local content for 13 Electronic Products viz., (i) Desktop PCs, (ii) Thin Clients, (iii) Computer Monitors, (iv) Laptop PCs, (v) Tablet PCs, (vi) Dot  Matrix  Printers,  (vii)  Contact  and  Contactless  Smart  Cards,  (viii)  LED  Products,  (ix) Biometric  Access  Control  /  Authentication  Devices,  (x)  Biometric  Finger  Print  Sensors,  (xi) Biometric Iris Sensors, (xii) Servers, and (xiii) Cellular Mobile Phones, for procurement to be made from local suppliers.
11. Compulsory Registration Order (CRO): MeitY has notified 'Electronics and Information Technology  Goods  (Requirement  of  Compulsory  Registration)  Order,  2012'  for  mandatory compliance  to  ensure  safety  of  Indian  citizens  by  curbing  import  of  substandard  and  unsafe electronic  goods  into  India.  63  Product  Categories  have  been  notified  under  the  CRO  and  the order has come into effect for all  the notified product categories.

12. Establishment of Gallium Nitride (GaN) Ecosystem Enabling Centre and Incubator: The  project  for  'Establishment  of  Gallium  Nitride  (GaN)  Ecosystem  Enabling Centre and Incubator for High Power and High Frequency Electronics' has been approved. The project is being implemented by Society for Innovation and Development (SID), Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), IISc Bengaluru.

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