Sweetner: Centre approves 27 companies under the new IT hardware PLI scheme
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The Centre on Saturday approved incentives for 27 information technology hardware manufacturing firms under the PLI scheme.
The “new import management system” is aimed at monitoring shipments of laptops, tablets, and computers into India without hurting market supply or creating a cumbersome licensing regime.
These companies receiving approval under the new production-linked incentives (PLI) for IT hardware include Dell, HP, Foxconn, and Lenovo.
The move comes when India is wooing IT hardware players with policy sweeteners and incentive schemes, making a determined push to position itself as a global hub for hi-tech manufacturing.
“I am happy to announce that 27 companies have been approved under the PLI IT hardware scheme. About 95 percent of these…23 companies… are ready to start manufacturing from day-zero,” Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
“This will set us up for being a big force in manufacturing of PCs, servers, laptops, and tablets,” he added.
These 27 companies will invest Rs 3,000 crore. Big players, including Dell, Foxconn, HP, and Lenovo, are among the companies whose applications have been approved.
The government in October tweaked curbs on imports of laptops and computers, allowing importers to bring in shipments of IT hardware from overseas on a mere ‘authorization’ upon detailing quantity and value.
The new ‘import management system’ is aimed at monitoring shipments of laptops, tablets, and computers into the country without hurting market supply or creating a cumbersome licensing regime.
This license regime applies to laptops, personal computers (including tablet computers), microcomputers, large or mainframe computers, and certain data processing machines to ensure India’s trusted supply chain.
