Proposed changes in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for pharmaceuticals, civil aviation, textiles, food processing and new and renewable energy – to make the schemes more attractive for investors – may be compiled together by the respective Ministries and Departments and presented as a single document for expedited clearance by the Union Cabinet, sources said.

“There are some changes in PLI rules that can be brought about only through Cabinet approval. These are specifically mentioned in the scheme details of various sectors. Five PLI beneficiary sectors are working on compiling their proposals for such changes so that the process of Cabinet approval could get expedited. Now that a new government is in place with some new Ministers, some more consultations will take place on this,” an official tracking the matter told businessline.

Rules notified

Several changes in rules and procedures have been already notified by the government in PLI schemes for sectors, such as textiles, white goods and auto, after approval from the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) or discussion between the relevant Ministries and the Finance Ministry, but these are not enough, the official said.

“There are certain proposals for extending the last year of production or incentive distribution that may need to be approved by the Cabinet. Some sectors want an expansion in the coverage of products that would be eligible for the scheme which again may need Cabinet nod. So these demands would be put up sectorally in the compiled document for the Cabinet,” the official said.

The PLI scheme announced to boost local production and exports in 14 strategic sectors in 2021-22 has so far managed to attract substantial investments and increase production in just a few sectors, led by mobile manufacturing.

The government is examining ways of revamping the scheme to bring in greater operational efficiency and make it more attractive to investors. 

Per latest estimates, total disbursements of incentives under the PLI scheme, which comes with a corpus of ₹1.97 lakh crore, has been about ₹10,000 crore. It has attracted ₹1.5 lakh crore investments, led to production worth ₹8-9 lakh crore of which ₹3-3.5 lakh crore were exported, the official said.

14 sectors

The 14 sectors covered under the scheme include mobile manufacturing and specified electronic components, drug intermediaries and APIs, medical devices, automobiles and auto components, pharmaceuticals drugs, specialty steel, telecom and networking products, electronic/technology products, white goods (ACs and LEDs), food products, textiles (MMF segment and technical textiles), high efficiency solar PV modules, ACC battery, and drones and components.

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