In a bid to promote domestic manufacturing, the government has banned the import of completely built units of air-conditioners with refrigerants. Air-conditioner imports have been on the radar of the government for some time and had been identified as among the priority sectors for reduction of imports in-line with the government’s Self-Reliant India initiative.

The government’s move is also expected to give a boost to capacities dedicated to third-party manufacturing in the country. However, experts pointed out that most companies that make ACs in India are heavily reliant on imports for critical components such as compressors from markets such as China.