Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 2.0 for hardware with a budgetary outlay of Rs 17,000 crore. According to Union Minister, IT and Telecom Ashwini Vaishnaw, the scheme will run for the next 6 years with an outlay of Rs 17,000 crore. The scheme will encompass laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs and servers and other devices and will benefit companies like Dell, Wistron Corp, Dixon, and Foxconn.The minister also mentioned that the electronics manufacturing sector in India has experienced consistent growth over the past eight years, it has achieved a significant production milestone of USD 105 billion (approximately Rs 9 lakh crore) this year, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 percent.The PLI scheme 2.0 for IT hardware will not only attract new investments in the electronic manufacturing sector but will also create over 75,000 jobs for the youth. It will also allow a boost in exports and gradually the dependence on the import will reduce. After the investment, India will be among the global leaders in the production of IT hardware. It is also anticipated that the scheme will result in an incremental production value of Rs 3.35 lakh crore.Earlier in February 2021, the government has done a financial allocation of Rs 7,350 crore, which authorised the PLI scheme for IT gear, focussing on the production of laptops, tablets, All-in-One PCs, and servers. Industry participants had, however, asked for an increase in the budgetary allocation for this category.The PLI plan has considerably aided the expansion of electronics manufacturing in India since it was first introduced in April 2020 with an emphasis on mobile phone production. India is now the second-largest producer of mobile phones in the world, with Marchs shipments of mobile phones reaching USD 11 billion (about Rs 90 thousand crores). The nation is quickly making a name for itself as a key centre for electronics production, drawing in the entire global electronics manufacturing ecosystem.
