New Delhi, Feb 15 (KNN) The government anticipates a Rs 10,000-crore investment under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for speciality steel in the fiscal year 2025. This amount will be in addition to the Rs 16,000 crore expected in the current financial year.

As of December-end, companies selected under the PLI scheme for speciality steel have already invested Rs 12,900 crore, with an additional Rs 3,000 crore expected before March, according to the Ministry of Steel. These companies had committed investments of Rs 21,000 crore by the end of this financial year.

With investments ramping up in speciality steel and production commencing, the interim budget has allocated Rs 270 crore for payment of incentives in FY25. In contrast, only a token sum of Rs 2.36 crore was provided in the revised estimates for this financial year.

Under the scheme, 57 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have been executed to increase capacity by 25 million metric tonnes (MT) for producing speciality steel grades, with an investment of Rs 29,500 crore. The PLI for speciality steel was notified in July 2021.

Five speciality steel units have already commenced production, with nine more facilities expected to begin production in the current quarter.

The Ministry of Steel, along with other relevant government departments, has been actively engaging with PLI beneficiaries to address issues faced by companies and facilitate them in meeting their commitments under the scheme.

Efforts have been made to expedite project clearances, issue standard operating procedures for Indian visas for experts, and address concerns of participating companies through continuous engagement with stakeholders.

Despite the perception of sluggish offtake of PLI in speciality steel, the ministry highlighted that investments in the steel sector typically have a long gestation period and depend on various factors, including procurement of equipment, many of which are sourced fr0m abroad.

The government is running PLI schemes for 14 sectors, including speciality steel, with an outlay of Rs 1.97 trillion. These schemes aim to attract investments, ensure efficiency, bring economies of size and scale, and make Indian companies globally competitive.

So far, the government has disbursed Rs 4,415 crore to PLI beneficiaries out of the total outlay. As of date, 746 applications have been approved across 14 sectors, with an expected investment of over Rs 3 trillion.

(KNN Bureau)