Finance minister, P Chidambaram has announced an increase in the import duty of the set top boxes.
The Union Budget 2013 has bought some good news for the domestic set top box manufacturing companies in India. Finance Minister, P Chidambaram has unveiled the Union Budget 2013 in the Parliament today. The minister has announced an increase in the import duty of the set top boxes. The move will help in boosting the domestic manufacturing of set top boxes, which is an exciting incentive for the industry.
Welcoming the decision, Atul B Lall, deputy managing director – CEO, Dixon Technologies (India) Pvt Ltd, said, “It’s a welcome decision for the Indian electronics industry. We salute the minister for supporting the domestic manufacturing of set top boxes. We assure him from the industry side that the local industry will rise up to the occasion and service the requirements of the consumers and operators to the best of our capabilities. The boost in domestic manufacturing will generate huge employment opportunities.”
It is noteworthy that around 90-95 per cent of set top boxes are imported in India (on the cable side). Lall adds, “It will be difficult to give a number as to how much of import will be impacted with this decision as it takes some time to migrate and there must be some orders in the pipeline. But I am sure that a significant portion of the lot, around 30-50 per cent, will shift to domestic manufacturers.”
This decision will not only trigger domestic manufacturing but also boost research, software development, hardware development and enable the Indian manufacturers to invest resources into new developments and platforms. While a set of domestic manufacturers are happy about the decision, a large number of players, who import the set top boxes from nations like China and Korea are unhappy about it as well. Rakesh Gupta, assistant vice president, Noida Software Technology Park Ltd, said, “The decision will have an impact on the price that the consumers pay for set top boxes.
One cannot rule out the fact that digitisation has been made mandatory in the country, which requires set top boxes to be deployed. Increase in import duty will ultimately increase the cost of set top boxes, which has to be borne by the consumers. Given the fact that there is no capacity available in India to manufacture these equipment, one has no choice but to import the set top boxes. No operator presently has the range to offer subsidies to the consumers. So consumers will have expensive set top boxes coming their way.”
