Samsung, Apple suppliers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, and local smartphone makers Micromax and Lava are among the companies that have applied for India’s Production-Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI). Totaling $6.6 billion, the program aims to encourage smartphone and electronics components production in the country.
The minister of electronics and IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday announced a healthy response to the Rs 41, 000 crore Production Link Incentives (PLI) scheme, welcoming Apple and Samsung to India through his tweet
Meanwhile, conspicuous by the absence in the list of applicants were Chinese players. None of the Chinese companies such as Oppo, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus have applied for benefits under the PLI scheme.
On the absence of the Chinese firms, IT minister maintained that the rules with respect to investment and security were clearly defined for countries neighboring India. Ravi Shankar Prasad, without naming any country, reiterated that these rules on security and investment will need to be complied with.
It has been confirmed that over 22 applications were received, under the scheme. The list of global applicants includes Samsung, Pegatron, Foxconn, Winston and Rising Star.
There was significant interest expressed by local manufacturers as well, with applications being filed by Lava, Dixon, Micromax, Sojo, Optimus, and Padget Electronics.
It’s noteworthy that Apple already has its suppliers Foxconn and Wistron’s assembly lines in India and has recently started producing the flagship iPhone 11 in the country. Moreover, Pegatron, which is one of the biggest suppliers for Apple is also in talks with various states in the country to set up its plant. With the new PLI plan, these manufacturers can increase the production of smartphones in the country and get cash incentives in return.
Samsung, by the way, already has the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturing unit set up in India. The company manufactures a lot of its smartphones here, even exporting some of them to other countries. It also recently invested $500 million towards setting up a display manufacturing facility in the country.
