Union Budget 2018-2019 has been announced by Honorable Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. In this budget he proposed to increase the custom duty on Mobiles to 20%. This move is to get manufacturers to make in India, rather than import directly from China.
This custom duty proposal for the Union Budget 2018-2019 will affect the companies that directly import the mobiles from China and sell it in India after rebranding. This means Apple brand will also get affected and iPhones will get costly.
Custom duty on Mobiles was increased last time to 15% and now with the new proposal add another 5% so a total of 20%. Also there is 15% duty on some mobile phones accessories and parts. This increase in custom duty will also affect users who buy the handset from Chinese markets / international stores, especially the ones that are not available in India.
The motive is to promote make in India that will help brands compete in Indian markets and also create employment opportunities. Xiaomi and many other brands have already setup their manufacturing plants in India, though most are just assembling the phones but this has helped create jobs.