The government will extend production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes to more sectors, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.
Delivering a speech at a CII event, Goyal said such schemes have found “good acceptance and traction” and have helped draw investments. The government has already rolled out 14 PLI schemes since 2020, which are estimated to lead to an incremental manufacturing of more than $500 billion over five years. The initial outlay for these programmes were to the tune of Rs 1.97 trillion over a five-year period.
The schemes cover a broad range of sectors, including mobile & specified electronic components, pharma, telecom & networking products, auto and auto parts, food products, white goods, advance chemistry cell battery and textiles. However, the sector-wise allocation was later tweaked, based on re-assessed priorities, which generated some savings.
Stressing that Atmanirbhar Bharat doesn’t mean shutting the door to others but raising India’s engagement with the world and “opening the doors wider to competition”. The minister said the pandemic has “alerted us about our dependence on supply chains, particularly from geographies that are not friendly or transparent”. “It opened our eyes on a number of risk factors in our trading system, our manufacturing and technology gaps that existed in India. This insight has helped us to move forward on the path to Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he said.