Pentium, Celeron chips treated as microprocessors

The reports of the finance ministry having decided to treat the two chips as populated PCBs had sent the hardware industry into a tizzy as the two chips from Intel are used in almost 90 to 95 per cent of the system integrators in the country.

A flurry of activity that followed ensured that the ministry fell in line with the demands of the IT industry, said a industry source. The industry received support from the national IT task force members, department of electronics in exertingpressure the MoF, thus clinching the issue in its favour, said a company representative.

In a statement, the Manufacturers Association of Information Technology welcomed the decision to accede to its request to offer special duty concessions.