Govt eyes August-September start to electronic parts PLI approvals

Time of India

9 hours ago

ETtech
The government is expected to hand out the first set of approvals under the Rs 22,919-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for electronic components manufacturing 'in the next two-three months,' by August-September, a senior official told ET.The scheme has received an overwhelming response, attracting nearly 100 applications for manufacturing various components, from display modules to camera units to battery packs, from both established players and new entrants.A project management agency is likely to be appointed within a month to screen the applications, the official said, adding that approvals will follow soon after.The government is working on a fast-track mode to get the approvals rolling, the person said.The Union cabinet had on March 28 approved the PLI scheme targeted on passive or non-semiconductor electronics components.'The response from industry has been good and very buoyant… I can see that many players would be keen to participate in this scheme which will be crucial to build the larger ecosystem,' said Atul Lall, managing director of electronics manufacturing service company Dixon Technologies 'For Dixon, it is a strategic foray and we will be applying. The timeline for applying is the end of July so the project reports and documentation is under preparation,' he told ET.ET had reported on April 29 that several companies including Dixon, Tata Electronics , Zetwerk and Foxconn are planning to invest through this PLI scheme 'As India looks to increase the domestic value addition, the component PLI is important,' Josh Foulger, president of Zetwerk Electronics , told ET. 'All the non-semiconductor items which are being considered are essential in the electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) space.'He said the component ecosystem takes time to come into fruition as it involves several aspects like raw materials, specialised processes, skills...all of which have to come into play in a streamlined manner. The qualifications of the customers, too, is a long process.'The tenure of all this coming into fruition will be 18-24 months, but it (the scheme) is on the right track and we see a lot of capable people applying, including us, and, more importantly, ecosystem partners coming here to develop the ecosystem and technology,' Foulger said.Foxconn, through its subsidiary Yuzhan Technology, is also looking to apply under the smartphone display module category, sources had said at the time.On June 23, Bengaluru-based unicorn Zetwerk told ET it plans to pump in Rs 500-800 crore on manufacturing printed circuit boards (PCBs), enclosures and electromechanical components such as heatsink and sensors.While the application for the PLI scheme is being prepared, Zetwerk is in talks with companies in Taiwan, South Korea and China for technology partnerships and is eyeing setting up manufacturing plants over the next one year.Neil Shah, vice-president of research at Counterpoint Research, said the PLI is going to have maximum impact on components which can be assembled or manufactured in India like batteries, camera modules, display modules and others which contribute to a considerable amount of the cost of the devices.'Display and camera module assembly are the low hanging opportunities for India which could see the most traction,' he said. 'Having capabilities in building a manufacturing ecosystem for camera, display, battery, passive components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors would be a good first step alongside matured nodes semiconductor fabs for wafer as well as packaging.'This is the first such scheme to focus on promoting the manufacturing of passive electronic components and would help deepen value addition happening in the country. It is also meant to complement the existing PLI on mobile manufacturing and the India Semiconductor Mission under which six large players including the Tata Group are setting up chip assembly and chip fabrication units.The scheme envisages to attract investment of Rs 59,350 crore, result in production of Rs 4.56 lakh crore, and generate additional direct employment for 91,600 persons besides many indirect jobs.Union electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said the segment will serve the requirements of several sectors, including telecom, consumer electronics, automobile, medical devices, power sector, etc.'India has started developing capital goods, machine goods used to make electronic products. Major centres have come up in Pune, Coimbatore, Rajkot, Bangalore. Apple today has 64 suppliers in India,' he had said while announcing the scheme earlier this year.