With September 15 being the last date for submission of applications for the PLI scheme for AC and LED lights components, as many as 52 companies are learnt to have submitted their application with investment proposals worth Rs 6,000 crore. Industry players pointed out that both large and small & medium companies have applied for the PLI scheme.
Chair of the FICCI Electronics & Manufacturing Committee, Manish Sharma, said, “Of the Rs 6,000 crore, about Rs 5,000 crore investment is expected to go towards the AC components segment, and Rs 1,000 crore is expected to go into LED components manufacturing. Investment proposals have far exceeded the expectations.”
Sharma said these investments are expected to shape up in the next two-three years, post approval from the Central Government. “Currently, only 25-35 per cent of local value addition is done in ACs and there is potential for this to increase to 75 per cent in the next three-five years. Last year, the Indian AC market was pegged at around 7.5 million units. Of this, 2.5 million units were imports, which have come down significantly due to the ban on import of gas-filled ACs. I expect the market to touch 9 million units this year, and of this 8-8.5 million units will be manufactured locally,” he added.
Sharma, who is the President and CEO, Panasonic India & SA, said the company has made an application with an investment proposal of Rs 300 crore for compressors and other components.
Some of the other key players that are learnt to have made applications include Daikin, Blue Star, Dixon, Amber Enterprises and Lloyd.
For instance, Japanese major Daikin has been looking at setting up its third manufacturing facility, which it will now set up under this scheme.
B Thiagarajan, Managing Director, Blue Star Ltd, confirmed that the company has submitted an application with an investment proposal of Rs 156 crore for components such as heat exchangers and sheet metal components .
The Centre will now examine the proposals and give the final nod. It had formally notified the ₹6,238-crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for component makers in the air-conditioners and LED lights segments in April.