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Dadar-based undergraduate Durga Panesar has been saving up to buy a brand new smartphone for his birthday coming up next month. He will now have to wait a little longer to save up some more cash with the Finance Minister hiking customs duties on mobile phones to 20 per cent from the earlier 15 per cent.
In the Finance Minister’s own words, the hike on certain items was a “calibrated departure” from the long-standing practise of generally slashing duties. While the move would definitely boost ‘Make in India’ initiatives and create jobs, mobile handsets would be costlier by up to 5 per cent.
“The prices of mobile handsets – across the spectrum - would definitely rise, and this is going to be a challenge as the industry is looking at increasing penetration of smartphones in the country,” Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) Director General Rajan S Mathews told BusinessLine.
However, consumers like Durga could still buy a phone assembled in India.
“There will be no impact on semi-knocked down kits, but the impact will be on completely knocked down units, which are coming in mainly from China and South Korea. More than 80 per cent of the handsets are brought in from China,” Yogesh Bhatia, Managing Director of feature phones manufacturer Detel said.
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