NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for pharmaceuticals. Besides, the government also approved the PLI scheme for IT hardware products, which includes laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers (PCs) and servers.
For IT hardware, eligible companies would be incentivised between four per cent and one per cent on net incremental sales of goods manufactured in India (over the base year 2019-20) for a period of four years, a government release said. The proposed scheme’s total cost includes an incentive outlay of Rs 7,325 crore and administrative charges of Rs 25 crore.
“The scheme is likely to benefit five major global players and ten domestic champions in the field of IT hardware manufacturing. This is an important segment to promote manufacturing under Atmanirbhar Bharat as there is huge import reliance for these items at present,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications and IT, after the Cabinet meeting.
The scheme is expected to bring additional investments of Rs 2,700 crore, earn direct and indirect revenue of around Rs 15,760 crore and create 1.8 lakh jobs in four years. The scheme will provide impetus to domestic value addition for IT Hardware which is expected to rise to 20- 25 per cent by 2025, Prasad added.
Currently, the demand for laptops and tablets in the country is largely met through imports valued at $4.21 billion and $0.41 billion, respectively. On the other hand, the PLI scheme for pharma is expected to promote the production of high-value products in the country and increase the value addition in exports.
Total incremental sales of Rs 2,94,000 crore and incremental exports to the tune of Rs 1,96,000 crore are expected during six years from 2022-23 to 2027-28, the release added. The government expects the move to bring investments of Rs 15,000 crore. In addition, the scheme intends to benefit domestic manufacturers, spur jobs as well as contribute to availability of a wider range of affordable medicines for consumers.