43% of new applicants for white goods PLI from MSME sector

The third round for production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for white goods including air conditioners and LED lights has attracted 38 responses with a net committed investment of ₹4,121 crore.

43% of the new applicants are in the MSME sector which shows the confidence among MSMEs to become part of the value chain of manufacturing components of ACs and LED Lights, says the commerce and industry ministry.

Several applicants are vendors for large manufacturers such as Daikin, Voltas, Blue Star and LG Electronics in the ACs sector. Similarly, several applicants are suppliers of LED components for large LED lights manufacturers like Surya, Orient, Crompton Greaves, Signify and Halonix etc.

21 applicants have applied for manufacturing components of ACs with a committed investment of ₹3,679 crore and 18 applicants for components of LED Lights with a committed investment of ₹442 crore.

The online application window ended on October 12, 2024, after being open for 90 days from July 15, 2024.

The applicants include 8 existing beneficiaries of the production-linked incentive scheme for white goods committing net incremental investment of ₹1,285 crore. 30 new applicants have committed investment of ₹2,836 crore proposing to manufacture varieties of critical components of ACs and LED Lights across India.

Investments have been proposed across India spanning 13 states including Jammu & Kashmir and Odisha and 49 new locations. Altogether, investments will be spread across 54 districts in 18 states, at 174 locations. Manufacturing clusters are coming up at Noida-Greater Noida in UP, Neemrana and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, Aurangabad-Pune in Maharashtra, Sanad, Gujarat and Sri City in Andhra Pradesh. 6 AC manufacturers and 12 component manufacturers are in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, also nicknamed as the ‘Cooling City’.

The scheme has a mix of multinational and domestic Companies. Five additional foreign companies are investing ₹245 crore apart from 15 existing companies investing ₹2,287 crore.

The scheme is expected to bring in investment in the component manufacturing ecosystem of ACs and LED Lights industry to the tune of ₹11,083 crore and generate around 80,486 direct employment. The scheme is expected to lead to total production of components of ACs and LEDs in India of about ₹1,81,975 crore.

The application window for the PLI Scheme for White Goods was reopened based on the appetite of the Industry to invest more under the Scheme, which is an outcome of the growing market and confidence generated due to manufacturing of key components of ACs and LED Lights in India under the PLIWG Scheme.

The PLI scheme for white goods is designed to create a complete component ecosystem for air conditioners and LED lights Industry in India and make India an integral part of the global supply chains. Domestic Value Addition is expected to grow from the initial level of 15-20% to 75-80%. So far, 66 applicants with committed investments of ₹6,962 crore have been selected as beneficiaries under the PLI scheme.

For manufacturing components of ACs, companies like Daikin, Voltas, Hindalco, Amber, Pg Technoplast, Epack, Mettube, LG, Blue Star, Johnson Hitachi, Panasonic, Haier, Midea, Havells, Ifb, Nidec, Lucas, Swaminathan, And Triton Valves etc. have invested. Similarly, in manufacturing components of LED lights, companies like Dixon, R K Lighting, Radhika Opto, Surya, Orient, Signify, Crompton Greaves, Stove Kraft, Cosmo Films, Halonix, Chenfeng, Fulham, Adsun, Inventronix And Luker etc. have invested.