MSMEs lead ₹1,900-crore PLI push in air-conditioner, LED manufacturing

New Delhi: India’s push for domestic manufacturing got a boost this week, with 13 companies committing ₹1,914 crore in new investments under the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for white goods.

More than half of the applicants were micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the commerce ministry said in a statement on Thursday, adding it indicated their growing confidence in the manufacturing value chain for air-conditioners and LED (light emitting diode) light components.

Nine of these 13 firms plan to make key components for air-conditioners, including compressors, motors, copper tubes, and control assemblies, with a combined investment of ₹1,816 crore, the ministry said. Four others will invest ₹98 crore in LED component manufacturing, such as chips, drivers, and heat sinks.

“Among the 13 applicants, one is an existing beneficiary under the PLI Scheme for White Goods, committing an additional investment of ₹15 crore,” the ministry said.

Spread across six states, 13 districts, and 23 locations, the projects are expected to generate new jobs and deepen regional supply chains.

India first introduced the PLI scheme in 2020 as part of its broader push to become a manufacturing hub after the Covid pandemic disrupted global supply chains. It now covers more than a dozen sectors, from electronics and pharmaceuticals to textiles and renewable energy, and has become a key pillar of prime minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives.

The white goods component of the PLI scheme, approved in April 2021 with an initial outlay of ₹6,238 crore, aims to develop a full-fledged domestic ecosystem for air-conditioners and LED lighting. It targets raising local value addition from roughly 15–20% to as much as 75–80%.

So far, this particular scheme has attracted committed investments of ₹10,335 crore from 80 approved beneficiaries and is projected to generate ₹1.72 trillion in production while creating around 60,000 direct jobs nationwide, the commerce ministry said.