The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Custom (CBIC) has eased the norms for re-importing electronic goods such as TV and mobile handsets for repair work.

A notification issued has listed 23 categories of goods under this provision which include printers, hearing aids, automatic bank note dispensers, audio-frequency electric amplifiers, projectors, radar apparatus, electro-cardiographs, ultrasonic scanning apparatus, magnetic resonance imaging apparatus electro encephalographs and echo cardiograph.

“This new notification will promote ‘Make in India’ and also bring more credibility for goods produced in India,” a Finance Ministry official said.

Atul Gupta, Senior Director at Deloitte India, said such a move will boost the government’s stated policy to facilitate foreign companies to make India an export hub for manufacturing electronic goods, particularly consumer goods such as smartphones.

“The present notification is a salutary provision which facilitates domestic electronic goods manufacturers to extend long-term guarantees on the consumer products manufactured in India, wherein the same if required can be re-imported for repairs for a period of up to 7 years from the date of export,” he said.

‘Welcome move’

According to EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain, this is quite a welcome move for the manufacturer exporters, who now have a longer buffer period for duty-free re-import of exported goods and also an extended lead period to undertake repair and reconditioning in India.

The notification though fixes a seven-year time frame for re-imports, but it will be 10 years from the date of exportation in case of Nepal and Bhutan.