Govt may consider Phased Manufacturing Plan for white goods: DPIIT Secretary

New Delhi, 26 Nov (KNN) The DPIIT-FICCI Investor Roundtable on PLI for White goods was attended by government officials and industrialist, wherein Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT, said that 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.

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

“They were 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 and the Government is fastracking FDI applications under Press note 3,” added Jain.

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.

Sharing the journey of PLI for White Goods, 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.

He 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 (see table below)

Manish Sharma, Chair- Electronics and White Goods Manufacturing Committee, FICCI said our achievements as an industry with the committed investment exceeding 4500 crores from more than 40 organizations across Indian manufacturers, SMEs and MNCs for varied components of ACs and LEDs including the industry of aluminium and copper is commendable.

He further said, the collective wisdom of the govt and the industry coming together for a common cause has boosted the confidence both Govt and the investors. He appreciated the sectoral associations for their contribution which was possible due to the guidance of Ministry of the Commerce and industry under the Atmanirbhar vision of the Prime Minister. He further mentioned that the PLI brings with it the commitment with a positive mindset ushering into the new era of backward integration with scale allowing to build competitiveness for export.

Jasbir Singh, Co-Chair Electronics Manufacturing Committee, FICCI said “Applaud govt initiative for PLI in our sector. This would have a compounding impact on component landscape for our sector taking local value add from current levels of 25% going to 75% in next 4-5 years. This was missing link in our industry, and we thank DPIIT for rolling out this well thought of and uniquely structured scheme in such short span”

Arun Chawla, Director General, FICCI commended the government and the industry for the resilience and actions shown in the past year.

The Investor roundtable, which witnessed participation from all the applicants in the PLI of White Goods with over two dozen CEOs of the industry, was organised jointly by DPIIT and FICCI in collaboration with sectoral associations namely RAMA, CEAMA, ELCINA and ELCOMA.

An Interactive Session on PLI investors was also attended by President and office bearers of RAMA, CEAMA, ELCOMA and ELCINA the sectoral associations.