Nokia India, Foxconn, 29 others get DoT approval for PLI scheme

The Department of Telecom (DoT) on Thursday approved 31 proposals under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme entailing an investment of Rs 3,345 crore over the next four-and-a-half years.
 
Global players approved by the DoT are Foxconn, Nokia India, Rising Star, Flextronics, Flex, Sabrina, and Commscope. Tejas, Dixon Technologies, VVDN Technologies, NeoLync, Syrma, Akashastha Technologies, ITI, and HFCL Group are among the domestic companies that will now be eligible for the PLI scheme.
 
The industry has welcomed the move of the central government. “Telecom is the backbone of a digitally connected India, and this scheme is envisioned to provide a required boost to local R&D and enhance incremental production of around ₹1.82 trillion. This will also create employment opportunities and open up various avenues for the people of this country. India is already the second-largest telecom market globally and this will go a long way in making the country a global hub for telecom innovation,” SP Kochhar, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India.

 

The DoT notified the PLI scheme for telecom and networking products on February 24 with a financial outlay of Rs 12,195 crore, over the five years.
 
The scheme for telecom gear manufacturing in India is expected to encourage the production of equipment worth Rs 2.44 trillion and create direct and indirect employment for about 40,000 people. The core idea of this scheme is to offset the import of telecom equipment worth more than ₹50,000 crore.
 
It can generate tax revenue of ₹17,000 crore from telecom equipment manufacturing, including core transmission equipment, 4G/5G Next Generation Radio Access Network and wireless equipment, access and Customer Premises Equipment, Internet of Things access devices, and other wireless equipment and enterprise equipment such as switches and routers.

 
The investors can earn an incentive for incremental sales up to 20 times the committed investment, enabling them to reach global scales and utilise their unused capacity and ramp up production.