The production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom and network equipment manufacturing has received applications from 37 vendors and contract manufacturers, including Nokia, Cisco, Flex, Foxconn, and Jabil.
Samsung Electronics has elected not to apply for the scheme given the high investment required to import equipment for Reliance Jio, its only customer, through a free trading area (FTA) route.
Sweden-based gear vendor, Ericsson has applied for the scheme through its Pune-based manufacturer Jabil. A number of domestic companies including Tejas Networks, Coral Telecom, HFCL and Dixon Technologies have also applied for the scheme.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will now select companies from 37 applicants based on competitive investment, which means companies with the higher investment will have better chances of being selected.
As part of the PLI application process, the DoT issued detailed guidelines last month.
The plan envisages awarding incentives worth Rs 121.95 billion to 10 large businesses and 10 MSMEs that meet production targets over a five-year period. In addition, Rs 10 billion have been set aside for 10 MSMEs, three of which will be domestic companies. The scheme will cover products including radio access networks for 4G/5G, IoT devices, routers and switches, as well as equipment for the customer premises.
