India bans import of air conditioners, refrigerators

The government on Thursday banned imports of ‘air conditioners with refrigerants’ with a view to promote domestic manufacturing and cut imports of non essential items.

"Import policy of air conditioners with refrigerants ...is amended from free to prohibited," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification on Oct 15.

This adds to a list of recent import restrictions as the government is intent to reduce import bill of non-essential goods and promote domestic manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar India policy.

In June, the government imposed curbs on imports of certain new pneumatic tyres used in motor cars, buses, lorries and motorcycles.

Before that prohibitions were placed on imports of items ranging from televisions to select defence equipment. China and Thailand are the top exporters of air conditioners to India, as per government data.

Together the two contribute over 90% of India’s imports of the good.