'Benign Duty Regime for IT Hardware Can Create 10.5 Lakh Jobs'

NEW DELHI: A favourable duty structure for manufacturing of IT hardware in the country can create over 10.5 lakh jobs by 2020, a report from the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT) today said. 

"A favourable duty differential regime can potentially generate 10,56,000 jobs in India IT manufacturing and related services if estimated annual demand for 21 million PCs by 2020 is fulfilled entirely through domestic production and the country garners a 30 per cent global market share," MAIT Vice-President and Smartlink Director Nitin Kunkolienker told reporters here. 

According to the study, average IT hardware products made in India are 15.9 per cent more expensive than similar imported products and this issue can be fixed if the government adopts a similar strategy for the segment as for mobile devices. 

"This strategy has already shown results in the case of smartphone and tablet vendors and serves as a strong signal that the PC industry has the potential to go the same way," MAIT Vice-President Krishnakumar P, also vice-president for Dell India's consumer and small and medium business division, said here. 

The differential duty regime requires the excise duty on notebook PCs and desktop PCs to be brought down to 2 per cent without any facility for input tax credits and an exemption from excise duty for parts, components and sub-assemblies. 

Krishnakumar hoped that this change will provide a level-playing field for domestic manufacturers of these products and allow them to serve a larger share of the Indian market.

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