Govt identifies high-achiever PLI schemes, removing procedural delays for sectors not doing well

The Union Government has identified 8 high-achiever PLI schemes, where Rs 2,874 crores have been disbursed till March 31, 2023, against PLI claims of Rs 3,420 crores. Large-scale electronics manufacturing has witnessed the largest PLI disbursement of Rs. 1,649 crores against PLI claims of Rs 1,651 crores, followed by PLI disbursement of Rs 652 crores against claims of Rs. 898.62 crores in pharmaceutical drugs and PLI disbursement of Rs. 486 crores against claims of Rs. 700 crores in the PLI scheme for food products.

DPIIT has said that the PLI scheme for large scale electronics manufacturing attracted an investment of Rs. 5,100 crores, led to total production of Rs. 2.4 lakh crores and generated over 52,000 jobs. An investment of Rs 19,000 crores was made under the PLI schemes for bulk drugs, medical devices & pharmaceuticals, while the investment of Rs. 6,000 crores was made under the PLI scheme for food processing which generated 1.24 lakh jobs. An investment of Rs. 1,600 crores in the PLI scheme for telecom led to sales of over Rs. 18,000 crores, while investment of Rs. 1,400 crores under the PLI scheme for white goods led to sales worth Rs. 2,600 crores.

DPIIT's Additional Secretary Rajeev Singh Thakur told CNBC TV18 that a good offtake has been noticed in PLI schemes in the past 3 years and the government is largely satisfied with the performance. However, the government is trying to remove procedural delays in PLI applications for sectors which aren't doing well, even as a lot of new sectors have sought PLI schemes, on which a decision will be taken in the next phase of allocation.

With manufacturing locations in 150 districts across 24 states, over Rs. 1.97 lakh crores have been committed by the Union Government under PLI schemes for 5 years starting FY 2021-22. While 717 applications have been approved under the current 14 PLI schemes, the actual investment till December 2022 is Rs. 53,500 crores. So far, the PLI schemes have benefited 176 MSMEs, generated 3 lakh jobs generated and added Rs. 5 lakh crores in actual incremental production/sales. While Thakur stated that there's no structural or major default reported on PLI schemes, he pointed out that NITI Aayog and an EGoM led by the Cabinet Secretary are taking feedback from the industry into consideration for new PLI schemes.

With the current PLI schemes likely to go on till FY 2028-29, DPIIT expects some of them to fructify next year while many others are expected to fructify in the next few years. 10 PLI schemes are being catered to by Project Management Agencies (PMAs) for measurement of targets, where the 10 departments for the current 14 PLI sectors have set targets on their own.