HP, Dell, Lenovo Among 38 Firms To Have Applied For PLI 2.0 To Make Laptops In India

In a big boost to the government’s Make-In-India initiative, the Centre has received 38 applications, including 25 from domestic companies, for the PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware.

According to various reports, global PC manufacturers such as Dell, Hewlett Packard, Foxconn (through a subsidiary), Asus, Acer, and Flex submitted their applications ahead of the Wednesday deadline.

Notably, Apple and Samsung are currently not part of the scheme, while the application window for the scheme closed on Wednesday night.

Among the local applicants, Dixon Technologies (India), VVDN Technologies, Optiemus Infracom, and Sahasra Electronic Solutions are some of the prominent names.

The Union Minister for Communications and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated that the scheme’s objective is to generate incremental production worth INR 3.35 Tn over the next six years.

This development comes days after the government imposed restrictions on the import of laptops and tablets.

Earlier, the Centre imposed registration mandates for importing laptops, tablets, and personal computers into the country. Companies with valid licences will be able to import such products beginning November 1.

Citing the rationale behind the move, the Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar had said that the mandates were aimed at reducing import dependence and spurring domestic manufacturing of laptops and personal computers.

He also noted that the decision to restrict imports was driven by security concerns to ensure that only trusted hardware enter the country.

The Indian market for laptops and PCs is dominated by major foreign players such as Dell, Acer, Samsung, Panasonic, Apple, Lenovo and HP.

The India traditional PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations, grew by 0.3% year-over-year (YoY) in 2022 to 14.9 Mn units despite a steep YoY decline of 28.5% in Q4 2022 (Oct to Dec), according to a report by International Data Corporation.

Earlier this year, India announced a $2 Bn production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to promote domestic manufacturing of laptops, PCs, servers and related-edge computing kits. It also covers personal computers and servers.

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