The government on Thursday approved 31 companies comprising 16 medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) and 15 non-MSMEs (8 domestic and 7 global companies) under the telecom PLI scheme, and expects an incremental production of around ₹1.82 lakh crore.

According to the Department of Telecommunications, the 31 applicants are expected to invest ₹3,345 crore in the next four years and generate incremental employment for more than 40,000 people and boost domestic Research & Development (R&D) of new products, on which 15 per cent of the committed investment could be invested.

“It will help in reducing India’s dependence on other countries for import of telecom and networking products. Government is helping you (industry players) as a catalyst,” Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications, said.

He also urged the industry leaders to focus on making high quality products and expressed the commitment to provide incentives and support to promote world-class manufacturing in the country.

The eligible domestic companies under the non-MSME category include Akashastha Technologies, Dixon Electro Appliances, HFCL Technologies, ITI, Neolync Tele Communications, Syrma Technology, Tejas Networks and VVDN Technologies.

The eligible global companies (their Indian subsidiaries) under non-MSME who were selected for the PLI scheme include Commscope India, Flextronics Technologies (India), Foxconn Technology (India), Jabil Circuit India, Nokia Solutions and Networks India, Rising Stars Hi-Tech, and Sanmina-SCI India.

The MSME companies include Coral Telecom, Elcom Innovations, Frog Cellsat, GDN Enterprises, GX India, Lekha Wireless, STL Networks, Synegra Ems, Systrome Technologies and Tianyin Worldtech India.

The PLI scheme was launched by DoT on February 24, with the objective to boost domestic manufacturing in telecom and networking products, with a financial outlay of Rs 12,195 crore over five years.

The scheme is effective from April 1 this year and investments made by successful applicants in India from April 1 onwards and up to the fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 will be eligible, subject to qualifying incremental annual thresholds, DoT said.

Support under the scheme will be provided for a period of five years -- from FY2021-22 to FY2025-26 -- it added.

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