iPhone manufacturer Wistron becomes top investor under government’s PLI scheme; details here

Under the government’s production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing, Wistron InfoComm, the Indian unit of one of the top iPhone contract makers in the world, has emerged as the single greatest investor, bringing in Rs 1,250 crore. With investments of Rs 900 crore and Rs 650 crore, respectively, Samsung’s and Foxconn’s local subsidiaries came after Wistron. The scheme was introduced by the government in March 2020 to promote manufacturing and create employment opportunities. It has enabled a process that grants visas to foreign nationals working for Indian businesses as part of the strategy to increase investment. A monitoring group has also been formed to accelerate finding solutions for the problems faced by the sector. Investments of a total of Rs 4,200 crore were made under the scheme. According to data from the Ministry of Electronics and IT, the program has manufactured electronic goods worth around $1.67 trillion and nearly 29,000 jobs, while aiming for production worth $10 trillion and 180,000 jobs.

The PLI scheme was extended by the Center until FY26 in response to pandemic-related interruptions and a severe global chip shortage. As a result, companies can still choose any five consecutive years between FY21 and FY26 to meet the benchmark targets for incremental sales, considering FY20 as the base year.

As per an ICRA report, even though the country’s production increased significantly, the quantity of value addition remained low since a subpar component manufacturing environment still compels about 80–90 percent of the components to be produced outside the country. The major issues suffered by the companies are lack of R&D infrastructure, high capital and logistics costs, muted private sector interest and weak backward linkages. However, analysts predicted that the 5G deployment, which is anticipated to raise the demand for new phones, can cause investment and manufacturing under the plan to increase much more.

Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) told Mint that the smartphone PLI is a prime example of comprehensive research and collaboration between businesses and all levels of government. “Additionally, it had the natural benefit of tailwinds from a manufacturing program that’s been phased in over 4-5 years, the development of industry, and the majority of domestic demand being supplied by local manufacture. A very significant outcome of the expansion of manufacturing under PLI is substantial exports,” he further added.

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