The Indian government has imposed a complete ban on the import of air conditioners with refrigerants in India. The ban comes as a push for self-reliance and promotion of locally manufactured goods and clamping down on imports from China.
“Import policy of air conditioners with refrigerants is amended from free to prohibited,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
It was back in July that the authorities had restricted the import of TVs, asking the importers to seek licenses from the DGFT. However, the ban on the imports of ACs is more stringent as it prohibits imports by any means.
“We believe the amendment to the import policy with reference to Air Conditioners is a step in the right direction and in line with the Atmanirbhar strategy announced by our Honourable prime minister. At Panasonic, we had set up our Air Conditioner factory in 2012 in Haryana and we are proud to share we have been manufacturing 100 percent in India and catering to local demand as well as exports.”Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India South Asia
As per a Livemint report, a majority of the ACs that come into India are loaded with refrigerants. In FY20, India imported split ACs worth $469 million of which $241 million was imported from China and the rest from Thailand. Window AC imports stood at $35 million with $18 million from Thailand and $14 million from China during the same period.
Since India is looking to limit its imports from China after the recent clashes between the two nations, there might be more non-essential items that might get banned from being imported in the future.
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