Budget 2024: GTRI urges govt not to cut import duty on smartphone parts

Economic think tank GTRI on Monday urged the government to cut import duty on smartphone components in the Budget as it could lead to an increase in superficial assembly plants that rely heavily on imported parts.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for 2024-25 tomorrow.

The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the current schemes and tariff structure resulted in great success, and the current framework is also ensuring duty-free imports of components for exports.

"Do not cut import duty on smartphone components in this Budget. Removing tariffs could lead to an increase in superficial assembly plants that rely heavily on imported parts, contributing little to the local economy.

"Imported components and subassemblies account for up to 90 per cent of the bill of material value for an India-made phones," GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said.

Currently, import tariffs on the product is 20 per cent while duty on components range between 0 and 20 per c