The government is taking various initiatives to curb Chinese imports. It plans to increase customs duty on close to 20 product segments including laptops, cameras, textiles and aluminum goods, while placing some steel items under import licensing, as part of its latest move to restrict imports from China.

In recent weeks, the government has been wary of duty hikes as it has noticed diversion of imports from countries with which India has free trade agreements, especially ASEAN members such as Vietnam or Thailand. In fact, the perceived inaction by the revenue department has prompted the commerce department to impose curbs such import licensing of tyres and TV sets, which many in the government believe is turning the clock back by a few decades.

Apart from some of the import restrictions, the government has made approval for FDI from China-based entities mandatory instead of the earlier system which only required companies to inform the Reserve Bank of India post-investment. Further, a registration system has been mandated for Chinese suppliers and contractors who wish to participate in government contracts.

Separately, the government is working on promoting domestic manufacturing by offering incentives to mobile manufacturers and pharma companies producing bulk drugs, with a few more sectors expected to be added in the coming weeks.