In its address to the launch of ICEA report today, Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeiTY) Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma made positive remarks on the response to the PLI 2.0 scheme that was tweaked for making semiconductor this year.
According to a report by Mint, the MeiTY Secretary said, “I am happy with the response to the scheme. We have also received responses from global and domestic players. PLI 2.0 scheme for IT hardware gets 58 registrations, all major players have registered."
“The process of examining the applications will begin after the deadline. There would be no extension to the last date of 30th August," Sharma added.
The approval for establishing the compound semiconductors, display fabs assembly and test units, under the PLI scheme, was issued by the Cabinet, as per a government notification released on June 10.
Earlier, the MeITY Secretary was responsible for granting approvals for applications valued up to ₹100 crore, with those exceeding this threshold were evaluated by the Union Minister for Electronics and IT.
The amendments, moved via the latest MeITY notification have removed the above categorisation, and made the Union Cabinet the sole authority to grant approval for applications under the PLI scheme, said the reports.
The PLI scheme, 'Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem', was announced in December 2021 with a total outlay of ₹76,000 crore. It was changed in September last year to attract global investors with more incentive support.
The PLI scheme announced in December 2021 had offered varying degrees of fiscal support to different categories for the development of semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystems in India.
These ranged from 30-50 per cent. This was made uniform in September 2022, as the government now funds 50 per cent of the project cost across all technology nodes for setting up of semiconductor fabs, including not just cutting-edge computing chips but also those used in power, telecom and automotive sectors.
