DoT to seek Cabinet nod on PLI scheme guidelines for telecom gears

The Cabinet had approved PLI schemes for 10 key sectors including automobiles, pharmaceuticals, food products and solar modules.

New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will approach the Union Cabinet for approval of the structure of production-link incentives for telecom gear makers in India, according to an official source.

In November, the Cabinet approved an incentive of Rs 12,195 crore to introduce production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom and network products.

The Digital Communications Commission on December 1 approved the proposal for the scheme.

"The DoT will go to the Cabinet to get approval of the guidelines and structure of the PLI scheme. It will be in place within a month. Everything is going on with positive momentum," the source told PTI.

The product lines that have been specified include core transmission equipment; 4G/5G, next-generation radio access network and wireless equipment; and access and customer premises equipment (CPE).

They also include internet of things (IoT) access devices and other wireless equipment; and enterprise equipment including switches and routers.

The Cabinet had approved PLI schemes for 10 key sectors including automobiles, pharmaceuticals, food products and solar modules.

The approval followed the success of the scheme in the electronic manufacturing sector where the government announced sops of around Rs 50,000 crore.

The scheme attracted iPhone maker Apple's contract manufacturers, as well as firms like Samsung, Lava and Dixon who cumulatively proposed to produce mobile devices and components of over Rs 11 lakh crore in the next five years under the PLI scheme.

The proposals submitted by the companies to the Ministry of Electronics and IT to avail benefits of PLI are expected to create 12 lakh employment opportunities -- 3 lakh direct and around 9 lakh indirect jobs.

(PTI Report)