The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Production Linked Incentive Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware with a budgetary outlay of ₹ 17,000 crore, stated union minister Ashwini Vaishnav.
The latest PLI aims to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments and jobs over the coming years.
Boost growth of Indian to global brands
“For IT PLI, the budgetary outlay is Rs 17,000 crore. The tenure of the programme is six years.
This move will help more Indian companies grow and they can combine design and manufacturing to become global brands.
We believe that the final investment in the IT hardware PLI 2.0 will be more than what we expect, just like the telecom PLI scheme,” IT and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
PLI 2.0
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 manufacturer of mobile phones. Exports of mobile phones crossed a major milestone of USD 11 billion (about ₹ 90 thousand crore) in March.
In February 2021 the Centre had 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 wanted the government to enhance outlay for the segment.
Building on the success of the PLI for mobile phones, the Union Cabinet has approved PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware.
Major benchmark in production
Electronics manufacturing in India has witnessed consistent growth with a 17 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the last 8 years to cross a major benchmark in production — USD 105 billion (about ₹ 9 lakh crore) — this year.
In the telecom PLI scheme, the expected investment was Rs 900 crore for the first year, but it reached Rs 1,600 crore in just one year.
The latest scheme covers laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs, servers and ultra-small form factor devices.
Benefits to common man
The scheme is expected to result in incremental production of Rs 3.35 lakh crore, incremental investment of Rs 2,430 crore and create incremental direct employment for 75,000 people during the scheme period.
“Overall, we expect more than 2 lakh direct and indirect jobs via IT hardware PLI 2.0 scheme,” said the IT Minister.
“PLI 2.0 for IT hardware will be a catalyst for India’s $300 billion electronics manufacturing mission, an important part of India’s trillion dollar digital economy goal,” said Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Fertilizer subsidy for Kharif season
Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Cabinet also approved Rs 1.08 lakh crore-fertilizer subsidy for Kharif season.
The government has decided not to increase the price of fertilizer.
It will spend Rs 70,000 crores for urea, and Rs 38,000 crores for Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP).
Timely supply a must
He said that it is essential for our government that farmers in the country can get fertilizer on time.
They should not face any burden due to any variation in the price of fertilizer in the international market.
“Last year the government budget spent Rs 2.56 lakh crore for fertilizer subsidy,”said Mandaviya.
