The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Rs. An incentive of Rs 17,000 crore to promote local manufacturing of IT hardware such as tablets and laptops, and the scheme is estimated to generate incremental production of Rs. Rs 3.35 lakh crore in a period of six years.
IT and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said companies with high volume sales are interested, and iPad maker Apple is also seriously evaluating the plan.
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware includes laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs, servers and ultra-small form factor devices. The scheme was earlier launched in 2021 but did not gain the expected momentum.
“For IT PLI, the budgetary outlay is Rs 17,000 crore. The tenure of the program is six years… We will accept the first set of applications by October,” Vaishnaw told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
The scheme is expected to generate incremental production of Rs. Incremental investment of Rs 3.35 lakh crore. Rs 2,430 crore and will generate incremental direct employment for 75,000 people over a period of six years, he said.
Furthermore, Vaishnav said investments under various PLI schemes, especially for telecom and mobile phones, have been higher than government estimates.
Under the new scheme, companies will get an incentive of up to 5 per cent on using domestically produced components and an alternative incentive of 4 per cent, whereas only 2 per cent incentive was given under the old scheme.
On a question about which companies are interested in the scheme, Vaishnav said, “The ones with high volumes. You know their names – HP, Dell, Acer and Asus have high volumes. Apple is typical. They are also very interested in it.” Are seriously evaluating.” .” In February 2021, the government approved the PLI scheme for IT hardware, covering the production of laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs and servers, with an outlay of Rs 7,350 crore.
However, industry players had requested the government to increase the outlay for this segment.
The minister said, the global electronics manufacturing ecosystem is coming to India and it is emerging as a major electronics manufacturing country.
Asked about the eligibility for investment from Chinese companies under the scheme, Vaishnav said the country has well-defined reliable source norms and any company that is compliant with the rules can qualify for the PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware. Can invest under.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajiv Chandrashekhar said that after the successes in rapidly growing and building the world’s second largest base and a reliable base for smartphone manufacturing, the focus is now on broadening and deepening India’s electronics ecosystem. Is.
“Today’s Cabinet approval of IT Hardware PLI 2.0 focuses on expanding India’s production and presence in the global value chain of IT hardware, servers, laptops,” he said.
He also said that the scheme will play an important role in catalyzing India’s tech sector and achieving the target of $1 trillion digital economy by 2025-26, including $300 billion electronics manufacturing.
Electronics manufacturing in the country has seen a 17 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the last eight years and output has crossed $105 billion this year.
The PLI scheme, launched in April 2020 with a focus on mobile phone production, has given a massive boost to electronics manufacturing in the country.
India has become the world’s second largest mobile phone manufacturer. Mobile phone exports crossed $11 billion in March.
