DPIIT issues guidelines on Rs 6,236 crore PLI scheme for white goods

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on Friday said it will provide incentives worth Rs 6,238 crore over a period of five years for manufacturing white goods--air conditioners (ACs), LED lights--in India, a part of its production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

The scheme will offer an incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India to companies engaged in manufacturing of ACs and LED Lights. While 2019-20 will be treated as the base year, the tenure of the scheme will be from 2021-22 to 2028-29.

The objective of the scheme is to create a complete component ecosystem in India and make the country an integral part of global supply chains, an official statement said.

According to government estimates, over a period of five years, the PLI Scheme will lead to incremental investment of Rs 7,920 crore, incremental production worth Rs 1.68 trillion, exports worth Rs 64,400 crore, and create additional four lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities.

According to the guidelines, mere assembly of finished goods will not be incentivized. Applicants manufacturing items deeper into the value chain of the eligible products will get higher priority in the selection process. The target segment will be categorised into a large and normal investment category. The large investment segment  shall have a higher priority.

The applicant will have to declare an annual plan for domestic value addition, employment generation and exports during the tenure of the scheme.

Any entity availing benefits under any other PLI scheme will not be eligible under this scheme. In case of deserving units showing the capacity to produce the specified product, the qualification criteria can be relaxed, based on the recommendation of a panel of experts.

“Companies meeting the pre-qualification criteria for different target segments will be eligible to participate in the Scheme. Incentives shall be open to companies making brown field or green field Investments. Thresholds of cumulative incremental investment and incremental sales of manufactured goods over the base year would have to be met for claiming incentives,” an official statement said.