The Indian government has officially stated that it has no plans to reopen the application process for automobile companies interested in participating in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) initiative. Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State for Heavy Industries, made the announcement in response to a parliamentary inquiry.
The PLI program was created as part of the central government’s objective to boost domestic output and strengthen the Indian manufacturing sector. The automobile and auto component business has significantly benefited from this program.
For the development of electric and hydrogen fuel vehicles, the PLI framework envisaged expenditures of ₹ 26,000 crore. Furthermore, a total of ₹ 18,000 crore was set aside for the development of cutting-edge chemical cells for novel storage technologies, with an additional ₹ 10,000 crore going towards the Faster Adoption of Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) program.
In defining the PLI car program, Minister Gurjar highlighted the March 2022 allocation of 50 GWh of ACC manufacturing capacity to four successful bidders. Unfortunately, one of the chosen bidders was found to be ineligible since they had not complied with the requirements of the bid papers, which made 20 GWh of ACC capacity available.
Given the significant advantages already attained by various firms under this program, it is noteworthy that the current decision to refrain from reopening the application window for the PLI scheme is unlikely to hinder the trajectory and progress of the automotive industry.
