A total of 15 applicants have been selected under the 2nd round of the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in White Goods. After evaluation of the 19 applications received in the second round, 15 applicants with committed investment of Rs 1,368 crore have been chosen.

These include 6 for manufacturing ACs components with committed investments of Rs 908 crore and 9 for LED Lights components with committed investments of Rs 460 crore.

These 15 companies will have total production worth Rs 25,583 crore over five years and generate additional direct employment of 4,000 persons.

Four applicants are being referred to the Committee of Experts (CoE) for examination and its recommendations.

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi today, Anil Agrawal, Additional Secretary, DPIIT said that as a result of PLI, the domestic Value Addition in these segments is expected to grow from the current 15-20% to 75-80%.

He said the PLI scheme and other regulatory measures including Quality Control Orders, Standards & Labels had given a big boost to Make In India and Atmanirbhar Bharat in ACs and LEDs.

In the first round of applications, 52 companies had filed their applications and 46 applicants with committed investment of Rs 5,264 crore were selected.

Altogether, 61 applicants approved in both the Rounds are expected to bring investments in component manufacturing eco-system of ACs and LED Lights industry to the tune of Rs 6,632 crore and generate approx. 46,368 direct employment opportunities. The Scheme is expected to lead to total production of components of ACs and LED Lights of about Rs 1,22,671 crore over five years.

For Air Conditioners, companies will be manufacturing copper tubing, compressors, control assemblies for IDU or ODU, Heat Exchangers and BLDC motors among other components. Similarly, LED Lights, LED Chip packaging, LED Drivers, LED Engines, LED Light Management Systems and Metallized films for capacitors etc. will be manufactured in India.

The PLI Scheme on White Goods is designed to create a complete component ecosystem for Air Conditioners and LED Lights Industry in India and make India an integral part of the global supply chains. The Scheme extends an incentive of 6% to 4% on reducing basis on incremental sales for a period of five (5) years subsequent to the base year and one year of gestation period.

The Union Cabinet had given approval to the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for White Goods (Air Conditioners and LED lights) on 7th April 2021, to be implemented from FY 2021-22 to FY 2028-29 with an outlay of Rs 6,238 Crore.

(Drafted with inputs from PIB)