PLI Schemes Get Boost in 2024-25 Budget: Electronics, Auto & Pharma Key Beneficiaries

New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) The government has substantially increased outlay for the production linked incentive (PLI) schemes for various sectors, including electronics, auto and pharma.

The outlay for PLI scheme for electronics have been increased to Rs 6,200 crore for 2024-25 as against the revised estimate of Rs 4,560 crore for 2023-24.

Similarly, the outlay for the PLI schemes for food processing sector have been raised to Rs 1,444 crore for 2024-25 as against the revised estimate of Rs 1,150 crore for 2023-24.

In 2021, the government announced PLI schemes for 14 sectors such as telecommunication, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones, and pharma with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore.

The outlay for PLI scheme for automobiles and auto components have been increased to Rs 3,500 crore for 2024-25 as against the revised estimate of Rs 484 crore for 2023-24.

For the pharma sector, the outlay rose to Rs 2,143 crore for 2024-25 as against the revised estimate of Rs 1,696 crore for 2023-24.

The government has disbursed Rs 4,415 crore under these schemes for eight sectors, including electronics and pharma, till October this fiscal.

Respective ministries and departments implement their schemes and are responsible for the disbursals.

They, along with Project Monitoring Agencies (PMAs), scrutinise the claim applications and sometimes visit the plants, too.

So far 746 applications have been approved in 14 sectors with expected investment of over Rs 3 lakh crore.

About 176 MSMEs are among the PLI beneficiaries in sectors such pharma and telecom.

More than Rs 1.03 lakh crore of investment was reported till November 2023, which has led to production/sales of Rs 8.61 lakh crore and employment generation (direct and indirect) of over 6.78 lakhs. There are about 1,000 beneficiary units under the PLI schemes.

By end of this fiscal, the disbursal target is Rs 11,000 crore.

The schemes aim to attract investments in key sectors and cutting-edge technology; ensure efficiency, bring economies of size and scale in the manufacturing sector and make Indian companies and manufacturers globally competitive.