Mumbai: In a move to promote domestic manufacturing of electronic goods, India government has banned the import of air conditioners (ACs) with refrigerants through a Gazette notification issued on Friday.
“Import policy of air conditioners with refrigerants–is amended from ‘free’ to ‘prohibited'”, the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in the notification.
Earlier government had banned import of tyres, TV sets and agarbattis and now ACs also join the list of products where import restrictions have been imposed.
In a speech on Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in last June that India import more than 30 per cent of country’s demand for air conditioners and it should be reduced fast.
Meanwhile analysts opine that move to ban import of ACs will not affect leading AC makers in the country Voltas Ltd, Blue Star Ltd and Havells India Ltd