The Modi government has put in place an “import management system” for IT hardware products such as laptops and computers to be effective from November 1.

“The authorisation issued shall be valid up to September 30, 2024,” the notification said.

Analysts said the system seems like a medium-term measure and the government could impose restrictions or tweak it beyond this period.

The management system, officials said, was aimed at monitoring shipments of such hardware without hurting market supply. It requires companies to register the quantity and value of imports, but the government will not reject any import requests and will use the data for monitoring.

Its purpose is “to ensure that all this provides us with the kind of data and information we need to make sure that we have a trusted digital system,” said S. Krishnan, the top bureaucrat in the electronics and infotech ministry.

On August 3, India imposed a licensing regime on laptops and tablet imports, but deferred the decision following criticism from industry.

That plan would have allowed the government to hold up or reject import requests while requiring a licence for every shipment.

The decision spells relief for global laptop makers such as Dell, HP, Apple, Samsung among Lenovo, which had been unnerved by the abrupt announcement of a licensing regime in August.

The new authorisation regime is aimed at monitoring imports of these products to ensure that they are coming from “trusted” sources, director-general of foreign trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Saranagi told reporters here.

Secretary in the ministry of electronics S. Krishnan said that the new mechanism was launched after holding an extensive consultation with the industry.