Govt Approves 27 IT Hardware Manufacturers Under PLI Scheme

On November 18, 2023, the Government approved the applications of 27 companies including Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme 2.0 for IT hardware.

In India, the IT hardware manufacturing capacity has declined over the years; several units are either operating at low capacities or have ceased operations on account of factors such as inadequate infrastructure, limited design capabilities, etc. The demand for laptops and tablets in the country is mostly being catered to through imports, which results in higher foreign exchange outgo.

As a step towards making the country a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) as envisioned under the National Policy on Electronics, 2019, and with a view to incentivise domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the manufacturing sector, the PLI scheme 2.0 for IT hardware was notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in May 2023. Thereafter, the Ministry came out with guidelines for its operation in July. An amount of 16,939 crore has been allocated as the total budget for the scheme, under which financial support will be provided for 6 years. The goods covered under the scheme include laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs, servers, and ultra-small form factor (USFF) devices.

As per this scheme, incentives would be provided for the localisation of prescribed items (including batteries, power adapters or SMPS, etc.), based on net incremental sales of manufactured goods. Here, goods include only those covered under the scheme.