India Inc gives thumbs up to PLI scheme’s manufacturing push

Corporate India on Wednesday endorsed the government’s grand announcement of ₹1.5 lakh crore Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the identified 10 champion sectors, stating that such a scheme will provide a major push to manufacturing and transform India into a global manufacturing hub.

The government has picked a good combination of sectors under the scheme including high tech sectors and big job creating ones like pharmaceuticals, food products and textile goods and this has resonated well with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, they said.

Kenichi Ayukawa, President, SIAM and Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said SIAM welcomes the announcement of PLI for enabling auto industry to be a part of the global value chain with an allocation of ₹57,000 crore, over the course of next five years. “We thank the Government for echoing its confidence on the Indian automobile industry, as the industry was eagerly awaiting for this scheme to increase its competitiveness and take the growth of the sector to the next level”.

Commenting on the mega policy announcement, Deepak Jain, President Automotive Components and Manufacturers Association (ACMA), said, “The announcement of the approval of the PLI Scheme for the auto & auto component sector is indeed a very welcome step to make the industry ‘Atmanirbhar’ and globally competitive. We are hopeful that the outlay announced will encourage the industry to become net-exporter and help reduce import dependence. We eagerly await the detailed contours of the scheme for the auto and auto component sector.”

Baba Kalyani, Chairman, CII Manufacturing Council, said, “The inclusion of high-demand high-technology items such as semi-conductor fab, IoT devices and ACC batteries in the newly announced PLI scheme will greatly boost India's manufacturing capacities & catapult it among major manufacturing hubs. Looking forward to a huge positive impact!”

Vinkesh Gulati – President FADA, said the automobile industry will be the biggest beneficiary with ₹57,042-crore outlay over the next five years. The PLI scheme will make the Indian automotive industry more competitive and will enhance globalisation of the Indian automotive sector. This will also improve exports and will make the production better in economies of scale, he said.

Kamal Nandi, President of Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association, said the scheme will assist in the giving the necessary boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative and support India into becoming a manufacturing hub.

Boost for electronics sector

Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India & South Asia, said, “Expansion of the PLI scheme to include white goods like AC & LED will also help scale up the component ecosystem and generate employment. At the moment, the electronic industry is one of the fastest growing sectors expected to reach $ 400 billion by 2025 with potential import opportunity of $150 billion which can be leveraged locally. We believe, the electronics industry in India can increase its potential multi-fold by 2025, with backward integration.”

Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel hailed the PLI scheme saying that it will give a big boost to exports, investments, domestic capacity and employment. This is a much needed step as it will further fuel the V-shaped recovery that has begun in many sectors including the apparel sector, he said.

Adi Godrej, Past President, CII, said, “Bringing food processing under PLI scheme would revolutionise the sector”.

T V Narendran, Managing Director of Tata Steel and President Designate, CII, said: “With the government extending the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme to 10 champion sectors including steel, India’s manufacturing growth is bound to catch more pace.”

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