Govt Can Consider PMP For AC Industry To Check Imports, Increase Local Value Addition And Employment: DPIIT Secretary

The government is willing to look at the Phased Manufacturing (PMP) plan for the AC industry to check the imports and increase local value addition and employment, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary Anurag Jain said while speaking at the high level DPIIT-FICCI Investor Roundtable on PLI for White goods on Friday (26 November).

Jain was responding to the suggestions made by some of the CEOs present in the roundtable to come out with the PMP for the AC industry.

He also mentioned that the DPIIT will now ensure that all these investments coming up under the PLI of white gets approvals from the central and state government authorities on fast track so that targets set under the PLI are achieved timely.

Jain also said that the government was in the process of fast tracking the national single window clearance system aimed at ease of doing business where all applications can be filed and tracked online, according to a Commerce Ministry release.

He further said that PLI scheme has been designed such as to benefit those sectors where Indian can take lead and also to benefit sunrise sectors and make them ready for global competition.

Anil Agrawal, Additional Secretary, DPIIT while appreciating the efforts of the FICCI Electronics and White Goods Committee, said that the industry response to PLI for white goods has been overwhelming.

The government took immense precautions while drafting the scheme so that there are no impediments to the implementation of the scheme going forward, he said.

Agrawal said that in almost one year, DPIIT has ensured that the scheme was designed and implemented based on the industry feedback and consensus across the value chain.

In the DPIIT-FICCI Investor Roundtable over one hundred and fifty CEOs/CXOs of the white goods industry participated showcasing the confidence of the investors in PLI. Many of these investors in component value chain are new ventures from the small and medium sector who would now supply to the OEMs and integrate with the Global value chains, noted Agrawal.

He further elaborated that the impact of the scheme has been tremendous as manufacturing units in over 50 locations across India are coming up or will benefit from the PLI scheme of white goods in the component chain of AC and LED.

Agrawal said that these units were located in states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Haryana Rajasthan and West Bengal.