Electronic parts PLI: Govt may clear 1st lot of eligible players in a month

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) is planning to clear the first lot of eligible players under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for electronic components within a month. Under the much-awaited scheme, the government has earmarked ₹22,919 crore as incentives for a period of six years. 

Meity expects over 150 companies, across various segments of electronic components from PCBs, mechanics and displays, to camera modules among others, will be eligible under the scheme when it closes. “We will start announcing eligible players under the scheme in phases in a month, and expect over 150 companies to be part of the scheme,” confirmed a senior Meity official. 

The ministry is also working on revamping the design-linked incentive (DLI) scheme, which is part of the semiconductor mission, and has so far had a subdued response. “We are looking at an incentive corpus of around ₹1,000 crore, and have identified 25 chipsets where the IP will reside in India. Eligible companies will be provided financial support, as they require an extended time to design these chipsets and we don’t see other investors supporting it,” the official said. 

  Under the existing DLI scheme, the incentive for eligible players is pegged at ₹15 crore, and the government had envisaged that it would cater to around 100 companies. Till now only 12 companies are there under the scheme. 

Many prospective companies have said that the incentive is too little and far less than even the cost of making a proof of concept, leave alone cost of manpower, and buying IP among others.