Samsung’s preparation to make laptops in India, impact of central government’s import restrictions

South Korean consumer electronics company Samsung has prepared to increase manufacturing in India. The company’s smartphones are already being produced in the country. Samsung can also make laptops in its factory in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh from next month. This will give a boost to the Make in India scheme of the Central Government. Under this scheme, incentives are given for electronics manufacturing. According to a media report, Samsung has prepared to set up a new laptop manufacturing unit in the Greater Noida factory that produces smartphones. This unit will have the capacity to manufacture 60,000-70,000 laptops annually. In this report, quoting a source, it has been said that this unit will be started next month. Last month, the government had imposed licensing conditions for import of personal computers, laptops and tablets. Its objective is to increase manufacturing in the country. Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar had said that the new rule will ensure that reliable systems and products are used in the country. A few months ago, the government had approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 2.0 with an incentive of Rs 17,000 crore to promote manufacturing of IT hardware like laptops and tablets in the country. It is expected to produce products like personal computers, servers, laptops and tablets worth about Rs 3.35 crore in six years. American iPhone maker Apple, which has a major share in the premium smartphone market, has planned to increase manufacturing in India. The company has prepared to shift a large part of its manufacturing in China to India. Recently Apple also opened two retail stores in India. These stores are getting good response. A large number of Apple’s suppliers are in China and the company is planning to reduce its dependence on China. Apple started manufacturing of iPhones in the country in 2017. The company’s iPhone 15 series smartphones, launched earlier this month, are also being produced in the country.