New Delhi Wistron Infocomm, the Indian arm of one of the world’s largest iPhone contract makers, emerged as the largest investor under the government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing 1,250 crores.
After Wistron, Samsung and Foxconn’s local units invest 900 crore and 650 crores respectively.
Overall, the scheme was successful in attracting total 4,200 crore in investment, an official familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The government had launched the scheme in March 2020 to promote manufacturing and create employment.
“The government has enabled the process of granting visas to foreign nationals involved in Indian companies under the scheme to promote investment. Besides, a monitoring group has been constituted to expedite the resolution of the issues being faced by the industry,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
plan, which targets production value 10 trillion and a total of 180,000 jobs have produced electronic items worth approx. 1.67 trillion and around 29,000 jobs, as per data from the Ministry of Electronics and IT.
Queries sent to investors, as well as to the ministries of commerce and electronics, remained unanswered till press time.
Pankaj Mohindroo, President, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said, “The mobile phone PLI is an outstanding case of intensive research and collaboration between the industry and the government.” 4-5 years of phased manufacturing program and establishment of the industry and most of the domestic demand is being met by domestic manufacturing. The expansion of manufacturing under the PLI has resulted in substantial exports, which is a very profound consequence,” Mohindroo said.
Against the backdrop of pandemic-related disruptions and an acute global chip shortage, the Center extended the tenure of the PLI scheme to FY26, allowing companies to achieve the threshold target for incremental sales in FY2011 and FY26. Permission was granted to choose between five consecutive years. With FY20 as the base year.
However, experts said there could be further increase in investment and production under the plan amid the 5G rollout, which is expected to create demand for replacements for the phones. An ICRA report said, “Though the production in the country witnessed a substantial increase, the quantum of value addition remained low as around 80-90% of the components continue to be manufactured outside due to weak component manufacturing ecosystem.”
The report said that the major challenges faced by manufacturers in India include lack of R&D infrastructure, high capital and logistics costs, muted private sector interests and weak backward linkages.
Experts warned that a new lockdown in China could add to the challenges faced by Indian manufacturers due to ingredient shortages. Besides, higher customs duty on imported components has led to pricing challenges, he added.
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