Indian government plans to curb Chinese imports. How it will impact the electrical equipment industry?

The government should consider banning imports of equipment related to power generation and transmission & distribution segments from China. We have already provided them with a detailed list of items where local capacity and capability exists in India and there should be no reasons for these items to be imported from China. It is detrimental to the interests of the country.
RK Chugh, President, IEEMA

While Chinese manufacturers have been bidding aggressively and successfully in the T&D equipment and products; in the final distribution products there is very little presence and dependency on China. Any strong action taken by the Indian Government will not have a damaging effect on LV electrical industry directly. However, a lot of testing and manufacturing equipment comes in from China, which of course can be substituted by equipment from other advanced countries, leading to an increase in capital expenditure. Similarly, many electronic components and controls are imported from China; instead of the USA, Japan, or Korea. Any tariff barriers or import restrictions will hence lead to a cost escalation. India should be careful in its decision to restrict or stop imports from China.

Our direction should be towards increasing local value addition for every product which is imported from China today. However, caution should be exercised for components or products for which there is no local substitute or cost-competitive alternate source at present.
Dinesh Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, Panasonic Life Solutions India