10 PLI schemes given Rs 14,020 crore incentive: Govt – The Tribune-OxBig News Network

In a bid to boost domestic manufacturing, the government has disbursed Rs 14,020 crore under Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for ten sectors, including electronics and pharma, since the launch of the support measure.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said the incentive amount of around Rs 14,020 crore was disbursed under PLI schemes for 10 sectors, including large-scale electronics manufacturing, IT hardware, bulk drugs, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, telecom and networking products, food processing, white goods, automobiles and auto components and drones.

“Individual cases have been approved over a period of time through a transparent mechanism,” the government said, while disclosing that the projects are implemented over a period of time ranging from two-three years, depending on the nature of manufacturing, and claims are usually made after first year of production.

Noting that most of the projects are at the implementation stage and will be filing incentive claims in due course, the Ministry said that as of date, 764 applications have been approved under the schemes for 14 sectors.

According to the government data, as many as 176 MSMEs are among the PLI beneficiaries in sectors such as bulk drugs, medical devices, pharma, telecom, white goods, food processing, textiles and drones.

“Actual investment of around Rs 1.61 lakh crore (USD 18.72 billion) has been reported till November 2024, which has generated production/sales of about Rs 14 lakh crore (USD 162.84 billion) and employment of over 11.5 lakh,” the statement said, while divulging that the schemes have witnessed exports surpassing Rs 5.31 lakh crore (around USD 61.76 billion), with significant contributions from sectors like electronics and pharmaceuticals.

The Ministry said about Rs 20,000 crore of investments have been made by companies out of Rs 27,106 crore committed and these projects have given direct employment to 9,000 people in the scheme for specialty steel. Incentive of Rs 48 crore has been released to the industry so far.

The government said the Ministry of Steel estimates that an incentive of Rs 2,000 crore will be disbursed by the end of the scheme tenure. “14 of 58 projects withdrew from the scheme due to changes in business plans of the company and project execution delays,” the statement revealed, while sharing that 35 companies have shown interest in the second round of the PLI scheme for speciality steel. They have committed an investment of Rs 25,200 crore. The steel ministry is in the process of selecting and signing MoUs with these companies.

Disclosing that an incentive of Rs 3,600 crore is estimated to be disbursed to these projects, the government said for 2022-23, an incentive of Rs 474 crore has been disbursed, and for 2023-24, the disbursement target is Rs 700 crore, which is on track to be achieved, in the food processing sector, in which currently 171 active beneficiaries are there across all categories. Six firms have withdrawn their applications.

The departments implementing their respective schemes are “responsible for the disbursals,” the Ministry said, while adding that the scheme’s aim is to attract investments in key sectors and cutting-edge technology, ensure efficiency, bring economies of size and scale in the manufacturing sector and make Indian companies and manufacturers globally competitive.

With an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore, the government had, in 2021, announced PLI schemes for 14 sectors like telecommunication, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell batteries, drones, and pharma.