India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the Budget for the financial year 2023-24. The budget had several announcements but I was more interested in learning how it will impact India’s consumer electronics market.
The most notable announcement was the reduction of Custom Duty on major electronic items such as mobile and television. So, prices of several electronic items should go down in the coming months. But it remains to be seen if smartphone brands are willing to pass their benefit to consumers.
“Customs duty reduction in select component parts used in mobile phones and televisions will help increase domestic value addition. This will have a positive impact on the domestic component manufacturing industry,” said Muralikrishnan B, president of Xiaomi India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said that mobile phone manufacturing has increased to 31 crore units worth Rs 2.7 lakh crore in the last financial year. The numbers are enough to confirm how India has emerged as a smartphone manufacturing hub.
The reduction of customs duty on parts of open cells will also affect the prices of TVs. Open cell panels account for over 60-70 percent of the manufacturing cost of LED TVs. So, the reduction of customs duty will surely make TVs cheaper in the country. At a time when India’s smart TV market is growing at 38 percent year-on-year, this move will have a positive impact.
The government is continuing its concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries. So, battery prices will have no impact in 2023-24. It will indirectly have a positive impact on every household item using Lithium-ion batteries.
The Indian government has also decreased taxes on EVs and biogas to encourage the use of Electric Vehicles and green energy.
