No plan to reopen PLI application window for automotive sector, says govt

The Indian government has no plan to reopen the application window for automotive companies under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, reports PTI. In a written reply to a question, the minister of state for heavy industries, Krishan Pal Gurjar has said in the Parliament that the ministry is implementing two PLI schemes, for the automobile and auto components, and advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery storage.

The minister also said that in the PLI auto scheme, there is no plan of the government to reopen the application window for the companies. The PLI scheme was introduced by the central government to promote local manufacturing in the country, in an attempt to make the Indian manufacturing sector stronger.

The automobile industry being one of the major manufacturing sectors, it received a major boost under the PLI scheme. Under the PLI scheme, the government introduced three different sub-schemes. For the production of electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel vehicles, the government allocated ₹26,000 crore, while ₹18,000 crore was allocated for the development of advanced chemistry cells for the new generation advanced storage technologies meant for electric vehicles. A ₹10,000 crore was allocated for the Faster Adoption of Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, which helped the country's electric vehicle market significantly through incentives meant for demand generation and infrastructure development.

Speaking about the reopening window for the PLI auto scheme, the minister said that a total of 50 GWh ACC manufacturing was allocated to four successful bidders in March 2022. He also informed the Parliament that one of the awardee bidders was disqualified for violating the terms and conditions of the bid document and 20 GWh ACC capacity became spare.