Ericsson wants prior investments linked to PLI scheme eligibility

Ericsson's stand is significant as the draft PLI scheme stipulates that global companies have to make an incremental investment of Rs 600 crore over four years to be eligible for it

Ericsson India has made it clear that the draft production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom gear makers, which replicates the rules for mobile devices, will not work for them, as the scheme does not give credit to the substantial investment that the European telecom gear maker has made in India since 1994.

Nitin Bansal, managing director of Ericsson India, and head, networks, for southeast Asia, Oceania and India, said: “We already export from India and can surely scale up. In fact, we export 5G radios from India to Australia and southeast Asia even though currently they are not required here.