Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: The central government is looking at expanding the purview of the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to cover sectors with high-employment opportunities in the upcoming budget 2023-24, as per a report by the Press Trust of India (PTI).
The Centre may extend fiscal incentives for the production of consumer goods such as toys, bicycles, leather and footwear, the report citing sources on Friday noted.
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This proposal to widen PLI scheme benefits to different sectors such as toys and leather is at advanced stages of finalisation and may appear in the Budget, the report mentioned.
To widen the scope of PLI, the government earlier earmarked an outlay of about Rs 2 lakh crore for 14 sectors including automobiles, auto components, white goods, pharma, textiles, food products, high efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell and speciality steel.
Citing one of the sources, the report said that there are some savings from this Rs 2 lakh crore outlay which could be considered for other sectors.
It is important to note that the PLI scheme for LSEM (Large-Scale Electronics Manufacturing) has attracted investment of Rs 4,784 crore as of September 2022. It also led to a total production of Rs 2,03,952 crore including exports of Rs 80,769 crore, according to a government statement.
Not only that, leading global players such as Foxconn, Samsung, Pegatron, Rising Star and Wistron were incentivised by PLI for LSEM. Moreover, all the 14 sectors under the scheme have received significant participation from the private sector.
As per a release from the commerce and industry ministry dated December 16, 2022, almost 650 applications have been approved under 13 schemes so far and more than 100 MSMEs are among the PLI beneficiaries in sectors such as bulk drugs, medical devices, telecom, white goods and food processing.
The PLI scheme is initiated to push domestic manufacturing in sunrise and strategic sectors, curb cheaper imports and reduce import bills, improve cost competitiveness of domestically manufactured goods, and enhance domestic capacity and exports.