Ahmedabad: The government on Monday is going to once again open the application window for 90 days from July 15 under the production-linked incentive scheme for household electronic products (white goods) such as air conditioners and LED lights. The commerce and industry ministry said in a statement that the application process will remain open from July 15 to October 12 as the white goods industry is looking to invest more under the PLI scheme. No application will be accepted after the last date.
To avoid any kind of discrimination, new applicants as well as existing beneficiaries of the scheme have been made eligible to apply by increasing their investment. So far, 66 applicant companies with an investment of Rs. 6962 crore have been selected as beneficiaries of the PLI scheme. Under the guidelines of the scheme, applicants will be entitled to incentives only for the remaining period of the scheme.
Applicants approved in the proposed third round will be eligible under PLI for a maximum period of three years. Only new applicants and existing beneficiaries who opt for an investment period up to March 2023 and intend to increase their investments will be eligible.
At the same time, existing beneficiaries who have opted for investment period till March 2022 and want to move to higher investment category in the proposed third round will be eligible to receive incentive amount for a maximum period of two years.
Along with this, it has been decided to introduce quarterly claim processing system of PLI to maintain liquidity in the business, better management of working capital and improve the operating costs of the beneficiaries.
On April 7, 2021, the Union Cabinet approved the PLI scheme for white goods for manufacturing and assembly of components of air conditioners and LED lights. The scheme is to be implemented over a period of seven years from 2021-22 to 2028-29 and has an estimated cost of Rs 6238 crore.