Two government officials said this week that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India has introduced a bill requiring a 10% tariff on imported printed circuit boards (PCBs).
The printed circuit board is a slot for key components such as processors, memory chips and wireless chips (core of electronic equipment).
Once fitted with these components, the cost of a printed circuit board can account for half the cost of a smartphone.
At present, most smartphone manufacturers import printed circuit boards that have been fitted with various components from India and then assemble them locally.
According to government and industry sources, if the Ministry of Finance of India passes the proposal on new tariffs, then it may be possible to start collecting tariffs within a few days, thereby making importing of printed circuit boards more expensive and prompting smart phone manufacturers to inject them locally. Parts.
India's financial, electronics and trade departments did not respond to the press request for comment.
In the short term, this action may prompt Apple and other companies to expand their limited production and assembly capacity in India, and bring advantages to companies such as Samsung Electronics of South Korea and Lava, a local company, because they already have the ability to fit components into print. Circuit board machine.
In a recent interview, a company executive stated that China's OPPO also installed this machine in a new factory in northern India.
According to two industry sources, as one of the world's largest electronics product contract manufacturers, Foxconn's Indian factory also has this manufacturing capability.
Lava's co-founder, S.N. Rai, said: 'This will be a step in the right direction, will drive manufacturers to carry out large-scale manufacturing in India.'
He added that this measure will also gradually promote the local production of smartphone camera and screen components.
If implemented, this move will be the latest move of the phased production plan (PMP) formulated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last year, India sold about 134 million smartphones, the second largest market in the world after China. Since then, the Modi government has raised tariffs on a range of low-value products such as batteries, chargers and imported mobile phones.
In last month’s annual budget, the Indian government imposed higher tariffs on products including imported smart phones and a series of parts and components.
Modi hopes to turn India into a global manufacturing center to promote economic growth and create tens of millions of new jobs.
Although Modi had a long way to go to achieve 'Made in India', Modi gained some success in PMP.
The technology research company Counterpoint said that there are currently more than 100 factories in India assembling mobile phones and accessories such as chargers, batteries, charging treasures and headphones.