Smartphones in India might get cheaper in 2023-24 after the government in the Budget 2023 announced a reduction in customs duties for various goods, including the import of certain mobile phone parts. Though cheaper components like camera lenses will bring down the cost of mobile phone production for companies, it is up to them to pass on the duty cut benefit to customers.
In the Budget Speech 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman said, “To further deepen domestic value addition in the manufacture of mobile phones, I propose to provide relief in customs duty on import of certain parts and inputs like camera lens and continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year.”
As a result of various initiatives of the government, including the phased manufacturing programme, mobile phone production in India has increased from 5.8 crore units valued at about Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to 31 crore units valued at over Rs 2,75,000 crore in the last financial year.
Apart from this, the government has also decided to reduce the basic customs duty on parts of open cells of TV panels to 2.5 per cent.
“The newly announced reduction in basic customs duty for several television component imports is a big boost for the television industry. We welcome this budget in its entirety and we are optimistic about our future business plans in India. But, there was no mention of whether the benefit will be passed on to the customers,” according to Sony India’s Managing Director Sunil Nayyar as quoted by news agency PTI.
Cheaper smartphones will also boost AI, ML, 5G-based technology services in India due to increased demand. “This (AI, ML, 5G) is another future-proofing the youth of India and encouraging innovation and talent retention which is core for the economic progress. Encouraging participation of the private sector in this collaboration should further benefit the youth in skill building and job creation,” Adelia Castelino, co-founder and managing director of In-Solutions Global Ltd.
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