Budget 2022: Duty concessions to electronics to boost domestic manufacturing; mobile phones, chargers to get cheaper - All details here

Budget 2022: During the Union Budget 2022-23 presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced custom duty concessions for parts of mobile phones, including chargers, camera lens of mobile camera module and more.

“Duty concessions are being given to parts of the transformer of mobile phone chargers and camera lens of mobile camera module and certain other items. This will enable domestic manufacturing of high growth electronic items,” FM Nirmala Sitharaman said in parliament.

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With the reduction in duty on parts of mobile phones, smartphones might get cheaper in the country, but not by a very large margin. Most smartphone brands in the country including Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, OnePlus, Vivo, among others are driven by the make in India initiative.

"The duty concession on electronic components along with PM Gati Shakti to strengthen multi-nodal connectivity plans are much appreciated. These will further strengthen local manufacturing and increase the supply chain efficiency especially post the supply chain challenges witnessed in 2021.  We at Xiaomi India would like thank the government for all the support and will continue to strengthen our commitment towards the country and consumer," Xiaomi Spokesperson said.

The Union Budget 2022-23 also announced initiatives to boost local manufacturing of other electronic items such as wired and wireless earphones, smartwatches, and fitness bands, among others. "Customs duty rates are being calibrated to provide a graded rate structure to facilitate domestic manufacturing of wearable devices, hearable devices, and electronic smart meters," Sitharaman further added.

Finance Minister also announced fresh details related to 5G auction and network rollout in the country, e-passports, digital payments and banking, EV battery swapping policy and much more. Nirmala Sitharaman said issuance of e-passports will be rolled out in 2022-23 to enhance convenience for citizens.

e-passports with embedded chips will be rolled out in India in 2022-2023. The e-passports will serve the same purpose as traditional passports but will come with embedded chips and futuristic technology. Citizens will get chip-enabled e-Passports with additional security features from the Ministry of External Affairs.

The applicants' personal information would be digitally signed and kept in a chip that would be integrated in the passport booklet. If the chip is tampered with, the system will be able to detect it, resulting in the passport authentication failing