Mumbai, Oct 4 (PTI) The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized electronic waste worth around Rs 23 crore and arrested the director of a Surat-based firm for allegedly importing it under the guise of aluminium scrap, officials said on Saturday.

The country's top anti-smuggling unit made the haul from four containers at the Nhava Sheva Port in Navi Mumbai under ‘Operation DigiScrap’, they said.

The operation led to the recovery and seizure of “17,760 old and used laptops, 11,340 mini/barebone CPUs, 7,140 processor chips and other electronic components” under the Customs Act, an official said.

The import of old and used, refurbished laptops, CPUs, and other such electronic items is prohibited under the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, and the Electronics and IT Goods (Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021, he said.

The official said that the import, falsely declaring the e-waste as aluminium scrap, violated Indian laws that mandate compliance with BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) safety and labelling requirements, thereby endangering public health and ecological safety.

As per the government policy, such prohibited goods are either “re-exported” or “deformed beyond use and disposed of as scrap”, he said.

The director of a Surat-based firm, who was actively involved in the planning, procurement and financing of the smuggled e-waste, has been arrested and remanded in judicial custody, he said. PTI DC NR

E-waste falsely declared as aluminium scrap seized; imports breached FTP, E Waste Rules and mandatory safety standards. Seizure at Nhava Sheva Port of used laptops, CPUs, processor chips and other electronic components declared as aluminium scrap led DRI to invoke the Customs Act, finding imports of prohibited old and used electronic goods in breach of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, the E Waste (Management) Rules 2022 and the Electronics and IT Goods (Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021, and non compliant with Bureau of Indian Standards safety and labelling rules; disposition options include re export or destruction and disposal as scrap, and an implicated firm director was arrested and remanded.