The government is planning to delay the implementation of the new import licensing rules for laptops, tablets and all-in-one PCs by about a year after 40 firms including global giants such as HP, Dell and Lenovo applied to set up plants in the country under the Production Linked Incentive scheme 2.0 for IT hardware.

Sources said the discussions between the government and industry are at an advanced stage amid indications the Centre will postpone the implementation of the licensing rules.

They said the PLI scheme has received a a positive response; the firms should be given at least a year to show results on domestic manufacturing.

The scheme is aimed at broadening and deepening the IT hardware manufacturing ecosystem in the country.

On August 3, the government had announced immediate restrictions on the imports of laptops, tablets and PCs and notified that the companies will be able to import such products only after a valid license.

The deadline was extended the very next day till November 1 at the request of the hardware manufacturers.

Officials said that the move is not to restrict import but rather to ensure the imports of equipment, servers and laptops are coming from trusted sources.

They said the public should not be exposed to systems which might have security risks against the background of rapid internet penetration in the country.

“Some of the hardware could potentially have security related issues and could compromise sensitive and personal data.”

Justifying the need to extend the deadline, industry said the manufacturing process takes time and cannot be done immediately as it involves developing a supply chain.

Besides, the import curbs will increase the prices of such devices in the Indian market.

Last week, the government received 40 applications for the Rs 17,000-crore IT hardware PLI scheme 2.0. Of the 40 applications, 33 domestic companies and 7 global companies have applied.

According to government estimates, incremental production is expected to be Rs 4.65 lakh crore including exports of Rs 28,288 crore. Based on the proposals received, the incremental investment is expected to be Rs 5,010 crore.