NEW DELHI: Lauding the success of production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the scheme is giving a boost to the manufacturing, be it electronic goods or mobile phones.
During his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister said India is becoming a manufacturing hub, building a foundation for a self-reliant India. The PM also expressed his satisfaction on the fact that majority of the startups have been ideated by those living in tier 2, tier 3 cities and villages.
Speaking of the PLI scheme, Modi said people from around the world are bringing new technologies along with them, which is generating new employment opportunities here. “It is building a foundation for a self-reliant India. Be it manufacturing of electronic goods or mobile phones, today the country is progressing at a very fast pace. Which Indian wouldn’t be proud when our Brahmos is exported to the world? Today the Vande Bharat train and our metro coaches are becoming objects of attraction for the world,” PM Modi stated.
The government had first announced the PLI scheme in 2020 to boost domestic manicuring by giving financial incentives in the form of tax rebates, lowered import and export duties and relaxed land acquisition norms, among others. In the Budget 2021-22 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced total outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore for the PLI scheme. So far, the Centre has announced PLI scheme for 14 sectors including automobile and auto components, electronics and IT hardware, telecom, pharmaceuticals, solar modules, metals and mining, textiles and apparel, white goods, drones, and advanced chemistry cell batteries.
He stressed upon the need for becoming self-reliant in energy as India imports over 80% of oil to meet its requirement. Modi added that the country should be self-reliant in the fields of solar energy, wind energy and various other renewable energy sources like hydrogen, bio-fuel and electric vehicles. PM Modi also said India will soon witness 5G mobile service, which promises to have 10 times faster and offers lag-free connectivity.
While highlighting the need for digitalisation, he added that the complete transformation of the education ecosystem, revolution in health infrastructure and improvement in the quality of agricultural life will be possible only through digitalisation.
“Today we are all set to enter the 5G era. You don’t have to wait too long before we match the global steps. We are ensuring that optical fiber reaches each and every village until the last mile,” said the prime minister. He called Digital India a movement of developing semiconductors, entering the 5G era, spreading the network of optical fibres.