The All India Notebook Manufacturers Association (AINMA) has issued an urgent appeal to the government for intervention to prevent the domestic notebook industry from facing an 'existential crisis'. In its letter to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the association identified the crisis as triggered by two key developments: India's free trade agreement with Southeast Asian countries and the government's revision of Goods and Services Tax rates in September 2025. The association warned that the domestic industry, comprising 1,500 units across the country and employing 1.25 lakh people, faces immediate threats from unfair trade practices and structural disadvantages that are actively penalising domestic production while incentivising imports.
The association has requested the imposition of a minimum import price (MIP) on finished notebooks to address zero-duty imports from ASEAN countries. According to reports from The Hindu, the association has also called for an anti-dumping investigation into imports from Indonesia to examine alleged dumping practices. These measures are aimed at protecting the domestic notebook and exercise book manufacturing sector from unfair competition. The association has urged the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) and the GST Council to consider a series of measures aimed at supporting local manufacturers and preventing job losses.
The association has highlighted structural issues arising from the GST framework that disadvantage domestic manufacturers. Finished notebooks from countries such as Indonesia enter India at zero Basic Customs Duty under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and attract zero IGST. However, the most significant challenge comes from the inverted duty structure where inputs are taxed higher than the finished product. While the final assembled notebook is nil-rated, major raw materials and inputs such as paper, coated paperboard, specialised adhesives, stitching wire, packaging cartons, and printing inks continue to attract 18% GST. This creates a situation where manufacturers cannot claim input tax credits for the tax they pay on their inputs, forcing them to absorb this 18% tax on consumables as a permanent, unrecoverable cost of production.
The association highlighted how Indonesian paper manufacturers benefit from economies of scale, state-subsidised forestry programmes, and highly vertically integrated supply chains that extend from pulp extraction to final assembly. As reported by The Hindu, the association noted that while Free Trade Agreements are fundamentally designed to foster reciprocal and equitable trade, the specific situation of the global paper industry has allowed Southeast Asian nations, particularly Indonesia, to heavily exploit this specific tariff line. The current international trade agreements, coupled with domestic tax rationalisation efforts, have inadvertently constructed a highly asymmetrical trading environment that actively penalises domestic production while incentivising imports.
On exports, the association has called for changes in the CGST rules to ease working-capital pressure on manufacturers. According to the industry body, exporters of goods that are exempt from GST in India should be allowed to pay IGST voluntarily on exports so that they can claim refunds through the automated ICEGATE system. The association has also demanded a review of pricing practices followed by domestic paper mills, asking the government to examine whether the benefits of tax changes are actually being passed on to the education and stationery sector. The industry body said it is willing to work with the government to address these issues, protect jobs and strengthen domestic notebook manufacturing under the Make in India initiative.
