Atmanirbhar Bharat push for laptop, PC manufacturing: Rs 7,350 crore incentive announced – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The government has widened the promotion scheme for pushing domestic manufacturing of electronics, giving out a Rs 7,350 crore incentive for production of laptops, tablets, PCs and servers in the country. The scheme is over and above similar benefits that have been given towards manufacturing of mobiles, telecom equipment, air-conditioners and LED lights.
Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, cleared by the Union Cabinet, has been doled out with an aim to promote India as a global hub for hardware manufacturing.
The scheme comes amid growing competition between India and China for manufacturing of electronics, as the relations between the two neighbours remain tense.
Last week, the Cabinet had approved a Rs 12,195 crore scheme for telecom equipment manufacturing. Also, a Rs 6,238 crore incentive scheme was rolled out for ACs and LED lights, apart from a Rs 41,000 crore scheme for mobile phones.
“India will be well positioned as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) on account of integration with global value chains, thereby becoming a destination for IT hardware exports,” the government said.
The government hopes to generate additional production to the tune of Rs 3.26 lakh crore through the incentive schemes, including Rs 2.45 lakh crore through exports, over the next four years.
The incentives are payable by the government only after mandated investments have been done, employment targets generated, and production targets met.
“The direct and indirect revenues generated from production under this scheme are expected to be Rs 15,760 crore over next four years. Domestic value addition for IT hardware is expected to rise to 20-25% by 2025 from the current 5-10% due to the impetus provided by the scheme,” the government said.
At present, laptop and tablet demand in India is largely met through imports valued at Rs 29,470 crore and at Rs 2,870 crore, respectively.
As per research firm IDC, PC shipments in India grew 27% to 2.9 million units in the December 2020 quarter from 2.3 million units in the year-ago period. On a full year basis, the PC shipments — comprising desktops, notebooks, and workstations — stood at 10.27 million units.
The government is eyeing a turnover of $1 trillion through digital and electronics manufacturing by 2025.
Watch Centre announces Rs 7,350 crore incentive for laptop, PC manufacturing