Government to review PLI progress

The Union government is set to review the flagship Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for all14 sectors on January 12. The government however is focusing on existing PLI schemes for 14 sectors and is not considering new PLIs.

The review comes at a time when the department is aiming to make the scheme more efficient, and is learnt to be considering course correction for sectors where the scheme has not produced expected results.

Moreover, the meeting holds importance because under the scheme, the government has distributed an amount of Rs 2,900 crore till March 2023. The empowered committee in PLI has also approved Rs 1,000 crore disbursement to beneficiary firms of the electronics sector.   

In 2021, the scheme was announced for 14 sectors such as telecommunication, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, high efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones, and pharma with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore.

"On January 12, there is a PLI review meeting," a source said, adding, "some PLI sectors are doing very well, others are in gestation period, and there are some which are lagging a bit, we expect to see a take-off very soon".

The main motive of the scheme is to generate investments in key sectors and cutting-edge technology; ensure efficiency and bring economies of size and scale in the manufacturing sector and make Indian companies and manufacturers globally competitive.

The schemes have attracted over Rs 95,000 crore in investment till September 2023.

According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry, 746 applications have been approved till November 2023 under these schemes.