Perspectives on industrial policy

Balancing financial incentives with trade liberalisation is crucial for making India's manufacturing sector globally competitive

Earlier this month, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade of India notified licensing requirements for imports of electronic goods, such as laptops, tablets, and certain computers. These restrictions are in addition to the already high tariffs, which are the highest among competing economies (Business Standard, July 6, 2023), on imported inputs in the electronics sector. A gradual upward movement has also been evident in recent years in the average most-favoured nation (MFN) tariffs on non-agricultural/ manufactured goods, with more than a four-fold increase in the number of tariff lines in the 15 per cent-plus tariff category since 2010 (See my