New Delhi: ICT industry body MAIT (The Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology), has hailed the Government’s recent decision on the new production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the IT hardware sector.
In a statement the MAIT President Nitin Kunkolienker said the scheme has the potential to achieve the government’s efforts in making India an Atmanirbhar Bharat. He said this scheme will expectantly set the dormant sector of ICT hardware manufacturing into a revival mode.
Mr Kunkolienker said, “towards this, we will continue working with the Government and transpire on an expanded scheme that will set India on the road to garner at least 20 percent of the global market to be serviced out of India which will translate to an opportunity of almost $45 Billion of production annually”.
The PLI for IT Hardware covering Laptops, Tablets, and Servers is directed at building the Atmanirbhar Bharat in a core strategic product that goes into the heart of the digital infrastructure be its data center, 5G, telecom, power grid, and others.
Hoping the decision will open an new opportunities for India at global stage Mr Kunkolienker said “It is the right time for India to boldly position itself on the global map as the preferred destination for ICT hardware manufacturing”.
Over the next decade, India is expected to consume around $120 Bn of IT Hardware. This market demand offers India an opportunity to set up a global scale through PLI for IT Hardware, he added.
On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved Production Linked Incentive Scheme for IT Hardware sector which includes laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs and servers. It has an outlay of Rs 7,350 crore over a four-year period and a total of 15 companies, five global players and 10 domestic firms are expected to benefit from it.
The incentives are expected to generate additional investments of Rs 2,700 crores and result in incremental production of Rs 3.26 lakh crore, 75 per cent of which for exports.
The scheme has an employment generation potential of over 1, 80,000 (direct and indirect) over 4 years. The Scheme will provide impetus to Domestic Value Addition for IT Hardware which is expected to rise to 20 percent to 25 percent by 2025.
The government expects the scheme to reduce India’s import dependence on IT hardware in a major way currently, 80 percent of the country’s laptop and tablet demand is met through imports.
Sanjeev Jasrotia