Govt working on PLI schemes for more products to boost manufacturing: Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said the government was working on production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for more products to boost manufacturing in India.

“We have committed to making India a manufacturing hub. We have come out with a PLI scheme for 14 sectors, apart from (a PLI scheme for) semiconductors, aggregating to Rs 2.7-3 trillion. We are willing to go the extra mile in other sectors. Should there be a need, we are working on a few PLI schemes already,” Goyal said at an industry event organised by Ficci.

The government had rolled out PLI schemes for 15 key sectors, including technology, textile, automobile, pharmaceutical drugs, speciality steel, electronics, among others. Most of these schemes have been notified, and are at different stages of implementation.

The minister asked the industry to get out of the mindset of different standards for domestic and international markets and emphasised that ‘quality’ of every Indian manufactured goods needs to be world-class.

“Colonial thinking has to be removed from our ecosystem. Covid-19 has helped us understand the value of quality. There is a resurgence of confidence in our manufacturers, and this is the opportunity we should not let go,” he said.

Referring to the slew of free trade agreements that India is negotiating at the moment, the minister said the world wants to engage with India. “Last two days in Saudi Arabia, I discussed nearly 30 sectors in which they are looking at our participation. Pharma, mining, innovation & startups, infrastructure offer huge opportunities,” the minister said.