Government has extended the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and IT hardware. Rs 15,000 crore has been allocated for incentives to domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and Rs 7,350 crore for production of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers and servers in India.
"The allocations for the scheme will be divided in 3 categories. In Group A, applicants having Global Manufacturing Revenue (FY 2019-20) of pharmaceutical goods of Rs 5,000 crore and above.
Group B will be those having revenue of Rs. 500-5000 crore, while Group C will be those having less than Rs. 500 crore revenue," said Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Allocations worth Rs 11,000 crore have been earmarked for Group A, Rs 2,250 crore for Group B and Rs 1,750 crore for the relatively small players in Group C.
Government has announced that the scheme shall cover pharmaceutical goods under three categories, with the first one covering biopharmaceuticals, complex generic drugs, patented drugs or drugs nearing patent expiry, among others. The second category will cover active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug intermediates. The third category would feature repurposed drugs, auto immune drugs and anti-cancer drugs, among others.
The scheme also brings within its scope the IT hardware manufacturing segment. It will run over the next 4 years and has an employment generation potential of over 1,80,000, the government said. As a result of the latest PLI scheme, the government hopes to draw into India the top 5 global companies which control 50 per cent of the international market. As a result, Rs 3,26,00 crore worth of production will be achieved, of which 75 per cent will go for exports," said Prasad.
