India onThursday imposed restrictions on the import of colour television sets, bringing back curbs it had lifted almost two decades ago, in a measure to encourage domestic production.

Imports of TVs in certain categories will now require a licence from the government.“Import policy of colour television sets... is amended from ‘free’ to‘restricted’,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification, adding that it would separately issue the procedure for for the grant of licence.

The curbs are applicable to TV sets included in the ‘other colour’ category that covers LCD TV s among the goods. There is no restriction on monochrome TVs. The total imports under the restricted category in fiscal 2020 were $781 million. Of these, Vietnam and China accounted for $428.37 million and $292.48 million,respectively.

India has a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Asean bloc that includes Vietnam.Electronics goods from China are suspected to be routed to India through the Southeast Asian country. Industry executives said the move would help stop indiscriminate import of TV sets from China and other countries like Thailand and Malaysia through the FTA route. India had relaxed quantitative restrictionson the import of 1,429 items including TV sets in 2000 and 2001.

India has a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Asean bloc that includes Vietnam.Electronics goods from China are suspected to be routed to India through the Southeast Asian country. Industry executives said the move would help stopin discriminate import of TV sets from China and other countries like Thailand and Malaysia through the FTA route. India had relaxed quantitative restrictions on the import of 1,429 items including TV sets in 2000 and 2001.

At present,around 35% of TV sets sold in the country are imported.