Harsimrat Kaur Badal Urges PLI Scheme Extension for Small Industries

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday asked the government to extend the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to small industries to give a boost to job creation and increase both exports and revenue.

Speaking during the discussion on The Finance Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha, Kaur said that there is a PLI scheme for big corporate houses who can put in big money and suggested that the scheme should be tweaked.

"... bring in those industries which generate employment. They don't have big money like big corporates. .. but they actually generate employment," she explained.

"Why don't you extend PLI scheme to small industries ...be it sports good industry, be it brass industry of Moradabad...all these small industries will generate jobs...increase revenue and increase export," she suggested.

The economy, Kaur said, has grown but there is no doubt that it has been a jobless growth of economy. This government's focus towards job creation has not been successful or it is not its agenda, she said.

In this budget, Kaur said that there is no strategy for layoffs which is happening on account of computerisation and artificial intelligence. She further said that in this budget there is no focus on the MSME sector which is the most important sector and is like the backbone of the country.

The sector, she said, contributes 30 per cent to GDP and 50 per cent to exports. After agriculture, it is the second largest employment generator. Despite 20 per cent of the investment, MSME employs 80 per cent of the industrial workforce.

She further said that in this budget there was not a single mention about MSP.

"Our farmers from past five years are protesting...in this budget there is not a single mention about MSP," she said.

The Trump government, she said, is pressuring that the Indian agriculture sector should be opened up. "They want to sell their fruit, vegetables, milk, poultry, and meat in the Indian market," she said.

"Before this, no government has given in to the WTO pressure and this government should also not do it. I demand an assurance," she said.