The government's production linked incentive (PLI) scheme has led to an investment of Rs 1.03 trillion till November, with exports surpassing Rs 3.20 trillion since the scheme's implementation.
This investment resulted in production worth Rs 8.61 trillion and direct and indirect employment generation of over 678,000, according to Rajeev Singh Thakur, additional secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
While the incentive disbursement to companies participating in the scheme was Rs 4,415 crore as of now, the payout as of September was Rs 1,541 crore.
The incentive has been disbursed under eight PLI schemes—Large-Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM), IT Hardware, Bulk Drugs, Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom & Networking Products, Food Processing, and Drones.
However, the incentive disbursement has fallen substantially short of the government's estimate of Rs 11,000 crore for the current financial year.
The scheme's total incentive outlay is Rs 1.97 trillion. During the last financial year, the first set of payouts worth Rs 2,874 crore was made.
Government officials believe more clarity on the incentives claimed will emerge by March, as most of the claims were filed by the end of December, and are expected to be verified and paid by March.
Individual ministries responsible for the scheme's implementation, along with Project Monitoring Agencies (PMAs), scrutinise the claim applications and sometimes visit the plants.
According to Thakur, there has been observed delay in processing due to back-and-forth communication between PMAs and companies. "It has been directed to ministries and PMAs to create a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and reduce the processing time," he said, adding that PMAs and departments have been asked to approve the claim and not raise unnecessary objections.
Thakur further stated that the government is hopeful that disbursements will pick up, as investment is on track.
While progress in some schemes has been slower than expected, the most progress has been seen in mobile phone and pharmaceutical PLI schemes.
The scheme's implementation has led to local manufacturing of various electronic components such as batteries, chargers, PCBA, PCB, camera modules, passive components, and certain mechanics.
"Green shoots in the component ecosystem are evident, with large companies like Tatas entering component manufacturing. PLI beneficiaries, accounting for only 20 per cent of the market share, have contributed to approximately 82 per cent of mobile phone exports during FY 2022-23. Production of mobile phones increased by more than 125 per cent, and export of mobile phones by approximately four times since FY 2020-21. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased by approximately 254 per cent since the inception of the PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing," an official statement said.