Appliances industry seeks 2nd round of PLI, rationalisation of taxes

The appliances and consumer electronics industry on Thursday urged the government to bring the second round of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for products like compressors and motors and rationalise taxes and tariffs on imports.

It has also asked for reductions in tariffs on imports, which will help to make the products competitive in the global market, said industry body Consumer Electronics & Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA).

"We, over a period of time, need to reduce the taxes. We need to reduce our tariffs so that really, our manufacturers can become competitive. We have a large base, and really we should be manufacturing for the world," said CEAMA President Sunil Vachani.

Besides, he also suggested creating large centres of excellence along the coastal areas, "where we can offer plug and play facilities to our MSMEs and offer land at attractive rates to a large corporate".

This will help in building export competitiveness, Vachani added while speaking at the 45th annual functions of CEAMA.

Moreover, he also suggested granting some more time for implementing QCO (Quality Control Order) and BIS standards, which will help in ease of doing business.

"We must give some time to our manufacturers who adopt the QCO standards and BIS," he added.

He also highlighted the role of the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme by the government in creating a component ecosystem for air conditioners and white goods.

"Almost 66 companies have applied for this almost 7,000 crore of investment has already been done. The value addition in this sector, which used to get around 18 to 20 per cent, has gone up to almost 60 per cent as of last year, and we are very confident to see go up to almost 75 per cent," said Vachani.

Terming the scheme as successful, Vachani said, "The industry requesting that we need to come out with one more round of PLI, especially focused on high-value components like compressors and motors, where the investment through incentive ratio is much higher than what we introduced".

He assured the government that if this second round of PLI is implemented, the value addition go to almost 95 per cent in the next two years time.

The ACE industry will not rest until India becomes the next half of manufacturing for the world, he added.

State Minister of Electronics & IT Jitin Prasada, who was also present during the event, assured to look into the demand and discuss it with the relevant ministry.

The minister cited a JP Morgan report, which says that every 4th Apple iPhone in the world will be made in India by 2025.

India is now poised to enter the 100 billion consumer electronics club market in 2025, the third largest market after the US and China, he said, adding that this is helped by the growing economy and policies of the Modi government.

"This achievement, combined with the progress in other areas, has created a fast-rising new middle class, fuelling aspirations, and thus demands of consumer electronics at a massive scale," said Prasada.