PLI scheme may generate 60 lakh jobs in next 5 years: FM

New Delhi, Feb 1: The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across 14 sectors, including IT hardware manufacturing, has the potential to generate at least 60 lakh new job opportunities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Presenting the Union Budget 2022-23, her fourth budget to date, she said that the PLI schemes have received tremendous response. "The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat has received an excellent response, with potential to create 60 lakh new jobs," she said during her Union Budget 2022-23 speech in Parliament.

The PLI schemes have received investment intentions worth Rs 30 lakh crore, she added. The PLI scheme covers key sectors like pharmaceuticals, medical devices, large-scale electronics manufacturing, food products, solar EV modules, automobiles/auto components, ACC battery, textile products etc. The government had notified the National Policy on Electronics 2019 (NPE 2019) scheme to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including chipsets.

The country saw an investment of Rs 2,595 crore and production worth Rs 67,275 crore under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing, of which, 31 per cent or Rs 20,568 crore worth products were exported (till June 2021), according to the Economic Survey 2021-22.

The PLI for large-scale electronics manufacturing was notified on April 1, 2020 which provides an incentive of 4 to 6 per cent on incremental sales (over base year) to eligible companies involved in mobile phone manufacturing and manufacturing of specified electronic components, including assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) units.

Under the PLI scheme for IT hardware (notified on March 3, 2021) the total sales of manufactured goods in the target segment stood at Rs 503 crore, with Rs 16.50 crore investment (as per Q2 FY21).The target segment under the PLI scheme includes laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs and servers. Recently, the government approved an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem.