Government restricts  imports of Hydrofluorocarbons

Indian Government of Thursday said that it has restricted the import of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in the country. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are used in refrigeration and air conditioning. This decision is taken to increase the domestic production of Hydrofluorocarbon in India. In a recently released notification, the Directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said: "Import policy of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) has been revised from 'free' to 'restricted', subject to NoC (no objection certificate) from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change." Those who wish to import the chemical in India will now have to take licence or permission from the Directorate. This is an important decision as the Union Government has given Rs. 6,238 crore PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme to boost the manufacturing of refrigeration and air conditioner components in India. The directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) in another notification informed that export of rice to European country will now require a certificate of inspection from EIA/EIC. The notification said, "Export to other European countries (except Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) will require a certificate of inspection by export inspection council (EIC)/export inspection agency (EIA) for export from July 1, 2022."