Telecom equipment imports up 20% in FY14

Telecom equipment imports increased by 20% to Rs 74,116.21 crore in 2013-14 as against Rs 61,539.01 crore in the previous fiscal.

Imports of telecom equipment have increased by about Rs 12,577 crore from Rs 61,539.01 crore in 2012-13, up 20% year- on-year, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Telecom equipment imports stood at Rs 59,447.4 crore in FY12.

Prasad added that the government has imposed basic customs duty at 10% on specified telecom products that are outside the purview of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA).

The Information Technology Agreement (ITA) allows duty free import of products falling under eight categories covering telecom, computers and semiconductors like mobile phones and electronic chips.

The government has declared set-top boxes a part of telecom network and that would result in 2% central sales taxes on inter-state sales and make them more competitive compared to imports, the minister added.