The Union government is set to review the flagship production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme on January 12, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said Thursday.
The government is focusing on existing PLI schemes for 14 sectors and is not considering new PLIs, he said. 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.
DPIIT, in a statement last month, said 746 applications have been approved till November 2023 and over Rs 95,000 crore in investment has come in till September 2023.
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The government estimates that production or sales of Rs 7.80 lakh crore have taken place due to the scheme generating over 6.4 lakh jobs.
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, in a social media post, had criticised the PLI scheme stating that job creation under the scheme is not commensurate with the investments made and that the government should release more data since lakhs of crores of public money has been pumped into the scheme.
“The PLI review will take place on the 12th. Currently we are focused on getting these 14 PLIs. All are up and running in a good way. So for the time being, the new PLIs are not being considered and we will focus on ensuring that these existing schemes get implemented well and thereafter we will see,” Singh said during a press briefing.
Singh also said the department is in the process of undertaking a third-party assessment of the PLI scheme in white goods (AC and LED lights).
“In all of them, the intent is to get real feedback on how these interventions have helped and what are the quantifiable outcomes that have come out,” Singh said.
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The PLI scheme was announced in 2021 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.
“Import substitution of 60% has been achieved in the telecom sector and India has become almost self–reliant in Antennae, GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) & CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). There has been a significant reduction in imports of raw materials in the Pharma sector. Unique intermediate materials and bulk drugs are being manufactured in India including Penicillin-G, and transfer of technology has happened in manufacturing of Medical Devices such as CT scan, MRI etc,” DPIIT had said in a statement last month.