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Responding to suggestions from industry associations and beneficiaries of the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for white goods (air conditioners and LED lights), the government has effected more changes to simplify the scheme's operation and to improve ease of doing business.

The following changes have been incorporated:

1. Adoption of the cost-plus method in place of the CUP (comparable uncontrolled price) method to calculate sales prices in case of captive consumption or supplies to group companies. It also required an amendment in the definition of ‘arm’ length.

2. Investments in tool room for manufacturing of mould and dies etc. to be considered as eligible investment under Capital Investment.

3. One more year allowed over and above two years permitted for informing beneficiaries about the establishment of an additional manufacturing facility.

4. Revision of the last date of submission of filing the claim and refund of excess incentive by the beneficiary on account of discrepancy between statutory compliance and records provided at the time of filing of claims, if any.

5. Site visit by the administrative ministry.

6. Rollover of bank guarantee.

7. Appropriate changes in annexures to the scheme guidelines.

To promote Atmanirbhar Bharat, the PLI scheme for white goods for the manufacturing of components and sub-assemblies of ACs and LED lights was approved by the Cabinet on April 7 2021.

It was notified by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on April 16, 2021. The scheme is to be implemented over a seven-year period, from FY22 to FY29 and has an outlay of Rs 6,238 crore. The scheme guidelines were published on June 4, 2021.

Based on stakeholder consultations for smooth implementation of the scheme, two corrigenda to the scheme guidelines were issued on August 16, 2021, and February 24, 2022, respectively.

Of the 64 selected beneficiaries, 15 beneficiaries who opted for the gestation period up to March 31, 2022, have started commercial production. The rest of the beneficiaries, who had opted for a gestation period up to March 31, 2023, are at different stages of implementation.

This PLI scheme is designed to create a complete component ecosystem for the air conditioners and LED lights industry in India and aims to make India an integral part of the global supply chains. The DPIIT expects domestic value addition to grow from the current 15-20% to 75-80%.

(Edited by : Amrita)