PLI scheme for white goods to be formally launched on April 1

The commerce and industry ministry is set to officially launch the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for white goods, such as LED lights, air conditioners, worth Rs 6,238 crore on April 1.

Guruprasad Mohapatra, DPIIT Secretary, said they are hopeful that before the end of this financial year, all PLI schemes would have received cabinet approval and would be notified. He said the PLI scheme will be a game changer in the country, where the focus is not only on manufacturing locally, but also for the world.

The scheme will be launched on April 1 and will remain open for applications for six months initially, which may be extended if required. The DPIIT expects the incentive to result in incremental production of ACs and LED lights worth Rs 1,68,000 crore over five years. It will likely lead to additional exports of Rs 64,400 crore, extra direct tax collection of Rs 11,300 crore and GST mop-up of Rs 38,000 crore over five years.

“We have done extensive stakeholder consultations with air conditioner and LED players. India can manufacture products of certain quality and scale, which will make it a global champion,” Mohapatra said. “We are actively monitoring about 1,000 companies globally, which are either already in India and trying to expand or are thinking of entering. We will handhold them through the investment promotion division of this ministry, Invest India and project development cells of ministries.”

The Centre, in March 2020, had announced PLI schemes for three sectors – mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronics components, drug intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients, and medical devices worth Rs 51,355 crore. 10 more sectors were added to the list in November.

Also Read: FDI easing in defence production to attract investments: DPIIT Secy

Over the next five years, the scheme is expected to lead to incremental production worth Rs 1.7 trillion, exports worth Rs 64,400 crore with additional employment generation of more than 100,000 jobs. The scheme is expected to generate revenue of Rs 11,300 crore and Rs 38,000 crore respectively through direct tax and goods and services tax over the base year (2019-20) for goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments to eligible companies.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the Davos Dialogue 2021, had invited global firms to take advantage of the Rs 1.97 trillion PLI schemes and expand their manufacturing in India. “We are moving ahead with the promise of becoming self-reliant. India’s aspiration to become self-reliant will strengthen globalism in new ways. India has the capacity, capability and reliability to strengthen the global supply chain,” he said. “India has a very large consumer base and the more it expands, the better it is for the global economy.”