PLI investments cross ₹51k cr; mobile phones, pharma lead

MOST SECTORS YET TO HIT THRESHOLD FOR INCENTIVES

- PRASANTA SAHU

COMPANIES HAVE INVESTED over ₹51,200 crore under the 14 production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes in the last one-and-a-half years, official data reviewed by FE showed. This is about a fifth of ₹2.73 trillion investments committed by the 588 companies selected for the incentives, in an average period of less than four years. The trend is therefore barely par for the course.

However, incentives worth only ₹2,400 crore have been released by the government under all the PLI schemes so far, which is just 1.2% of the ₹1.97 trillion envisaged over five to seven years. This is because only two schemes mobile phones (₹1,500 crore) and pharmaceuticals (₹850 crore)-have reached the stipulated threshold of incremental sales to be eligible for incentives.

This and the fact that bulk of the investments have been done by existing players, who would have anyway had capex outlays matching the number quoted above over the period since the respective PLI schemes have come into play, casts a bit of uncertainty over the schemes' traction. Also, large foreign companies have been conspicuously absent from the investors' list. Most of the schemes were announced in 2021, and the implementation is lagging behind schedule for many.

Official sources, however, insisted the schemes are progressing well, and would be catalysts for domestic manufacturing, in keeping with the "Make in India" plank.