Ministry says 64 applicants commit Rs.6,766cr under White Good PLI
Thirteen global heavyweight manufacturers including Daikin, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Nidec, LG and Met Tube, have committed to invest Rs.2,090 crore, or about 30% of total committed investments under White Goods PLI Scheme.
Overall, 64 applicants with committed investment of Rs.6,766 crore have been approved as beneficiaries under the PLI Scheme for White Goods (Air Conditioners and LED lights), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on 7 Feb 2024.
Separately, IFCI Ltd, a public finance institution, has been selected as Project Management Agency (PMA) for the Scheme to be implemented over FY 2021-22 to FY 2028-29 with an outlay of Rs.6,238 crore.
A central design aspect of the scheme is that it does not incentivise production of finished goods. Only manufacturing of components and sub-assemblies are incentivized under the Scheme. It will lead to increase in domestic value addition from 20-25% to 75-80% at the end of the Scheme.
Investors were given option to choose one of the two gestation period i.e. up to March 2022 (one year) and up to March 2023 (two years). Regular stakeholder review meetings are organized with PLI beneficiaries ensuring that the issues of the companies are resolved in a timely and effective manner.
On 3 Feb 2024, the progress of implementation of 14 PLI Schemes were reviewed including the PLI Scheme on White Goods.
It may be noted that all 15 Projects (100% companies who have opted for Gestation Period 2021-22) have been commissioned. They have achieved 234% of their total threshold investment. On the overall, about 40% of investment have been achieved in less than 3 years of implementation out of 7 years.
Companies opting for one year of gestation period are eligible for PLI in the current year FY 2023-24 based on achieving the threshold investment and net incremental sales in FY 2022-23. Their online applications are under examination by the PMA.
The PLI will be disbursed by March 2024, said the Ministry, assuring that there would be no delay in PLI disbursement.
The Scheme has attracted a healthy mix of multinational and domestic companies committing to develop a robust component ecosystem in India.
As on date, investments have been done in 26 states; 45 districts; 128 locations across India. The PLI scheme has played a crucial role in generating employment opportunities across India. The Scheme is expected to create about 47,851 direct jobs. As against that, in less than three years 41,739 direct jobs have been created.
Total actual production of Rs.7,957 crore has been done by the beneficiaries by December 2023.
The Scheme is leading to development of robust component ecosystem in India, said the Ministry.
Investments in Air Conditioners is leading to manufacturing components across the complete value chain including components which are not manufactured in India presently with sufficient quantity.
At present, there is insignificant manufacturing of certain high value components of ACs like Compressors, copper tubing, aluminium stock for foils.
Many other components like control assemblies for indoor units (IDU) or outdoor units (ODU), display units, brushless direct current motors, valves etc. are not manufactured in enough quantity. All these components will now be manufactured in India in significant quantities.
Similarly, LED Drivers, LED Engines, LED Light Management Systems, PCBs including metal clad PCBs and Wire wound inductors etc. will be manufactured in India in high quantities. This is a huge step forward for Atmanirbhar Bharat in important sectors of economy. Fiinews.com
