After the government announced restrictions on laptop imports at least 32 foreign electronics companies have applied to make laptops, tablets and servers in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has been promoting domestic manufacturing under its “Make in India” initiative.
Attracting global interest
Several global companies have either set up their own units or entered joint ventures with Indian firms.
These firms applied under the country’s $2 billion production-linked incentive (PLI) programme for information technology hardware such as laptops, personal computers, tablets and servers, announced in May.
PLI scheme
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 2.0 for IT Hardware was notified on May 29, 2023, with a budgetary outlay of Rs 17,000 crore.
The intent with this is to encourage the manufacturing ecosystem to grow further along with localisation of components and sub-assemblies.
Also part of its motive is to turn India into a global supply chain and reduce dependency on imports.
Sourcing components locally will help win more financial benefits.
This scheme comes with expectations of inviting 24.3 billion rupees ($294.24 million) of incremental investment, not to mention the generation of 75,000 direct jobs.
It offers cash back of almost 5 per cent on factory prices of finished products.
Import restriction
India had recently imposed a restriction on the imports of laptops, tablets and personal computers in an effort to promote local production.
Earlier this month, the Central government placed restrictions on imported laptops, tablets, and personal computers.
Any entity or or company seeking to import these devices will have to secure a “Valid Licence for Restricted Imports”.
“Import of Laptops, Tablets, All-in-one Personal Computers, and Ultra small form factor Computers and Servers falling under HSN 8741 shall be ‘Restricted’ and their import would be allowed against a valid Licence for Restricted Imports,” the notice issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade read.
Top brands such as HP, Acer, Apple, Asus, Samsung and others were the worst affected.
Encouraging response
The companies that have approached include Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, Dell Technologies, Asus, Acer and Lenovo.
The response is more than anticipated, Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
“Excellent response received for the production of laptops and PCs under the hardware Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) scheme. We have met almost all the 32 companies who applied and the portal will be closing tonight. Companies that will be manufacturing laptops include HP India, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Thomson and others,” Vaishnaw said in a media briefing.
The PLI scheme for IT hardware is expected to fetch $294.24 million, along with 75,000 direct jobs, said Vaishnaw.
Make in India vision
“India is emerging as a trusted supply chain partner and value added partner … companies are happy to come to India for manufacturing and design,” he told reporters at a media briefing.
“Prime Minister’s vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Make in India has created such a strong attraction for the entire world that the global manufacturing companies are coming to India, developing products and manufacturing products here,” Vaishnaw said.
