The government has cleared 31 companies comprising 16 medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) and 15 non-MSMEs (8 domestic and 7 global companies) under the telecom production linked incentive (PLI) scheme that was announced in February 2021.
It expects to mop up an incremental production of around Rs1.82 lakh crore.
According to the Department of Telecommunications (DOT), the 31 applicants are expected to invest Rs3,345 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 percent of the committed investment could be invested.
Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications, said, “It will help in reducing India’s dependence on other countries for import of telecom and networking products. The government is helping you (industry players) as a catalyst”.
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 approved 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 has been 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 in a media release.
Support under the scheme will be provided for the period of five years, from FY2021-22 to FY2025-26, it added.
The main objective of the PLI scheme for the telecom sector is to boost domestic production, cut import dependency, and create jobs.
The official said the scheme has been designed after wide and regular consultations with the industry, which includes discussions on the provision around research and development.
The PLI scheme for the telecom sector will provide incentives for manufacturing of network equipment, routers, broadband transmission equipment, 5G equipment and consumer premise devices, electronics items required for providing optical fibre-based connections, etc.
Under the scheme, an investor can get an incentive for incremental sales up to 20 times the committed investment, enabling them to reach global scales and utilise their unused capacity and ramp up production.