INDIA is exploring new duties on the import of a key smartphone component, according to two government sources, the latest in a series of moves aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing in the world’s second-biggest smartphone market.

    India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has mooted a proposal to levy a 10-percent duty on the import of populated printed circuit boards (PCBs), sources said Saturday.

    Once populated with components, PCBs account for about half the cost of a smartphone. Currently, most manufacturers of smartphones import PCBs which are already loaded with components to India and then assemble them locally.

    If India clears the recommendation on new duties, these could be levied in a matter of days, say government and industry sources, thus making populated PCB imports more expensive and pushing players to locally mount components instead.

    In the near term, such actions could spur players like Apple Inc. to widen their limited manufacturing and assembly capabilities in India and give an edge to those like Samsung Electronics and homegrown firm Lava, which already have machines to mount components onto PCBs.

    China’s OPPO is also putting up surface mounting machines in a new facility it is building in north India, a company executive said. (SD-Agencies)