Industry cheers Rs 22,919 crore PLI boost for electronics components

The electronic component manufacturing industry on Friday cheered the Cabinet approval of ₹22,919 crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme. This is expected to attract investment worth ₹59,350 crore and generate direct employment for 91,600 people.

 

The scheme focuses on key components such as batteries, displays, camera modules, and printed circuit boards (PCBs) to enhance India’s electronics supply chain and reduce import dependence.

 

HCL founder Ajai Chowdhry, who is also chairman of EPIC Foundation, said that this was a much-awaited electronics components manufacturing scheme. “From EPIC, we had been requesting this for a long time. This will enable much higher value addition in the country for electronics manufacturing and will attract more investments in system products as local availability will enable just-in-time manufacturing. Also, it will enable more companies and startups to design and make products to make India become an electronics product nation,” he said.

 

Domestic production of electronic goods has increased from ₹1.90 trillion in 2014-2015 (FY15) to ₹9.52 trillion in FY24 at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of more than 17 per cent. Exports of electronic goods have also increased from ₹38,000 crore in FY15 to ₹2.41 trillion in FY24 at a CAGR of more than 20 per cent, according to a release by Press Information Bureau (PIB).

 

India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) believes India’s electronics manufacturing industry has built a substantial scale, becoming the second largest mobile manufacturing nation in the world, producing approximately $60 billion in FY25.

 

“As we embark on the road to build a $500 billion mission, it is critical to build a sustainable and competitive electronics manufacturing ecosystem. India has witnessed an unprecedented growth in the mobile and electronics sector. Domestic production has increased 400 per cent to an estimated $135-140 billion over the last decade since FY15. The ECMS will now catalyse the industry to deepen integration with Global Value Chains (GVCs), establish large-scale manufacturing units, and enable significant employment generation,” said Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman, ICEA.

 

Though the ₹22,919 crore incentive has been welcomed, the industry was hoping for an allocation of up to ₹40,000 crore.

 

Avneet Singh Marwah, chief executive officer (CEO) of Super Plastronics, believes that this allocation will be utilised by the industry well. “The PLI that was allocated earlier has not been utilised completely and there were many who avail PLI schemes but don’t use them. This time, the government only wants players who are willing to invest. In the past, the government has allotted PLI, but despite discussions, nothing has been concluded and manufacturing is yet to begin,” he added.

 

“India continued to import PCBs, passive components (such as capacitors, inductors, and resistors), and display modules, etc. that constituted 15-20 per cent of the bill of material of the electronic products, in addition to semiconductors. The Component PLI will accelerate the ‘Make in India’ initiative, driving higher value addition and strengthening the domestic supply chain with import reductions. Alongside the semiconductor manufacturing ramp-up and the existing PLI for electronics manufacturing, these initiatives will enhance India's global competitiveness,” said Ashok Chandak, president, IESA.

 

Several players have already created joint ventures to address this segment. Manufacturing firm Zetwerk is known to be in discussion with industry partners for collaborations. There were media reports that Dixon Technologies is also in talks with China’s HKC to manufacture display modules.