Government Announces PLI Scheme for Telecom Sector

On February 24, 2021, the government announced the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme to promote telecom and networking product manufacture in India with a total investment of Rs.12,195 crore over five years.

The MSME Category is covered by the following provisions in the Scheme Guidelines.

i. The Scheme stipulates a minimum investment threshold of Rs.10 Crore for MSME and Rs.100 Crore for non MSME applicants.

ii. A cash allocation of Rs.1,000 crore out of Rs.12,195 crore has been made for the MSME category during a five-year period.

iii. In the first three years, MSMEs receive more incentives than non-MSMEs.

The Scheme has approved a total of 31 applicants, including 16 MSME, 8 Non-MSME (Domestic), and 7 Non-MSME (International) (Global).

The PLI Telecom Scheme proposes a total investment of Rs.3,344.90 crores in the telecom sector.

The total financial outlay for this project is Rs.12,195 crores over the scheme’s duration.

The PLI Scheme has selected 31 companies for manufacturing telecom and networking products in India, which are listed in Annexure.

To reduce reliance on other countries for telecom and networking products, the government has taken steps such as imposing a basic customs duty (ranging from 10% to 20%) on certain identified telecom products and announcing the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order on August 29, 2018.