Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles

What is the PLI Scheme for Textiles?

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles is a Central Sector incentive scheme of the Ministry of Textiles, notified on 24 September 2021 with an approved outlay of Rs 10,683 crore. The scheme pays a cash incentive on incremental sales of man-made fibre (MMF) apparel, MMF fabrics and products of technical textiles manufactured in India.

The policy problem the scheme addresses is scale. India's textile strength has historically been in cotton, while global demand has shifted heavily towards man-made fibre and functional technical textiles, where Indian units were small and fragmented. PLI for Textiles rewards companies that put up large, modern plants and then actually sell what those plants make.

According to the scheme notification, incentives are available for a five-year period from FY 2025-26 to FY 2029-30, on incremental turnover achieved during FY 2024-25 to FY 2028-29, after a two-year gestation period of FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24. A company that hits its investment and performance targets a year early can start drawing incentive a year in advance.

PLI for Textiles is an industrial incentive, not a citizen benefit. There is no individual application, no subsidy for buying a machine, and no benefit for a job worker or trader.

How much incentive does the PLI Scheme for Textiles pay?

The scheme has two parts, with different entry thresholds and different rates.

The rate falls by 1 percentage point every year from year two onwards. Incentive is paid only when both conditions are met, the minimum investment and the minimum turnover. From year two, the participant must also show incremental turnover over the previous year; the required increment was reduced from 25% to 10% with effect from FY 2025-26 by the amendment notified on 9 October 2025.

Two limits are easy to miss. First, there is a cap of 10% over the prescribed incremental turnover growth for the purpose of calculating incentive from year two, so turnover beyond that cap earns nothing. Second, in year one the cap applies over a turnover of two times the investment made under the scheme.

Only sales transacted through normal banking channels and removed from the factory under a GST invoice count. Turnover from trading and outsourced job work is excluded, and goods manufactured by another manufacturer or by another unit of the same group are not counted.

Who is eligible for the PLI Scheme for Textiles?

You can apply if:

• You are a manufacturing company registered in India producing notified MMF apparel, MMF fabrics or technical textiles products.
• You commit the minimum investment in plant, machinery, equipment and civil works, Rs 150 crore for Part-1 or Rs 50 crore for Part-2 for applicants after 1 August 2025 to excluding land and administrative building cost.
• Your project envisages value addition of at least 60% in integrated fibre/yarn to fabric, garment and technical textiles. For an independent fabric processing house the minimum value enhancement required is 30%.
• You undertake processing and operations in your own factory premises.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual, proprietorship or partnership that is not a company registered under the Companies Act, 2013. Individuals are not eligible under any part of this scheme.
• You are a trader or a job worker: such turnover does not qualify.
• Your products are outside the notified HSN lines, for example pure cotton apparel or conventional home textiles.
• You are a second company from a group already registered under textile PLI. Only one company of a group may be registered; a group may file more than one application but must choose one if more than one is shortlisted.

Priority in selection has been given to investment in aspirational districts, tier-3 and tier-4 towns and rural areas, along with relevant experience, financial and technical capacity, size of investment and employment potential.

What changed in the scheme in October 2025?

The Ministry of Textiles notified major amendments on 9 October 2025, aimed squarely at bringing mid-size companies and MSMEs into the scheme:

1. Minimum investment halved with effect from 1 August 2025 — Part-1 from Rs 300 crore to Rs 150 crore, Part-2 from Rs 100 crore to Rs 50 crore.
2. Incremental turnover criterion cut from 25% to 10% from FY 2025-26, from year two onwards.
3. 17 new products added to 8 new HSN codes for MMF apparel and 9 for MMF fabrics.
4. No need to float a new company. Applicants can now set up the project unit within an existing company, removing a costly structural condition.

The application portal was reopened from 1 August 2025, the last date was first set at 31 December 2025, and was then extended to 31 March 2026 by the notice dated 2 January 2026.

How to apply for the PLI Scheme for Textiles

The steps below describe the process as it stood when the application window was open. New applications are not being accepted at the time of writing.

1. Open the official portal at pli.texmin.gov.in and read the scheme notification dated 24.09.2021 along with the amendment notifications of 09.10.2024, 24.02.2025 and 09.10.2025 and the operational guidelines dated 17.10.2025 and 26.12.2025 under Notifications & Guidelines.
2. Register the applicant company on the portal and create login credentials for the authorised signatory named in the board resolution.
3. Fill the online application with the proposed investment, product lines by HSN code, plant location, projected turnover year by year and projected employment, and choose Part-1 or Part-2.
4. Upload the certificate of incorporation, PAN, GSTIN, detailed project report, audited financials, product list and bank details.
5. Submit before the notified last date and download the acknowledgement.
6. Respond to queries raised by the Project Management Agency (IFCI), which carries out ground-level verification, and attend the scheme's weekly open house held over video conference every Friday between 4 pm and 5 pm.
7. On selection, sign the participation documents, execute the investment, and file annual claims with certified investment and turnover evidence to draw the incentive.

How is the incentive claimed and verified?

Incentive is not automatic on selection. A participant company must maintain separate accounts and a separate balance sheet, along with an inventory of inputs and sales data for production under the scheme. Claims are filed for the performance year, supported by GST invoice-level turnover data at 8-digit HS code, and verified on the ground by the Project Management Agency before disbursal.

If a participant misses the turnover target in any year, no incentive is paid for that year. The company can still claim in a later year within the scheme period, but the total number of years for which it draws support falls accordingly, and the rate applicable is the one prescribed for that scheme year.

What has the scheme achieved?

• 170 companies approved in total under the scheme, including 52 new approvals after the reopened window, per the PLI Textiles portal.
• 74 applications selected in the earlier rounds, with proposed investment of Rs 28,711 crore, projected turnover of Rs 2,16,760 crore and proposed employment of 2,59,164; of which 40 companies reported investment, 22 met their threshold investment, and 30 commenced production and reported turnover.
• Rs 54 crore of provisional incentive disbursed to two applicants who completed threshold investment and sales in FY 2024-25.
• 84 new proposals received after the October 2025 amendments, envisaging Rs 10,789 crore of investment, Rs 44,081 crore of turnover and about 86,740 new jobs, as stated by the Minister of State for Textiles in Lok Sabha on 10 February 2026.
• 113 manufacturing units being set up by 91 selected companies across 17 states and 1 union territory.
• 56.75% of the 74 selected companies are in technical textiles, the most capital-intensive of the three segments.

Why applications get rejected under textile PLI

• Investment below the threshold, or investment counted wrongly by including land or administrative building cost.
• Products outside the notified HSN list. The single commonest error.
• Value addition below 60% (or 30% for an independent fabric processing house).
• Group already represented by another registered participant company.
• Turnover claimed from trading, job work or group-company production, none of which is eligible.
• Weak financial capacity on audited statements relative to the investment promised.

Help and grievance redressal for PLI Textiles

• Portal: pli.texmin.gov.in: notifications, operational guidelines, formats, FAQs, applicant list and the product brochure.
• Project Management Agency contact published on the portal: Mr Gautam Singh, +91 7428586853, plitextiles@ifciltd.com.
• Weekly open house by video conference every Friday, 4 pm to 5 pm, to resolve issues faced by participants.
• Ministry of Textiles, Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi, for policy-level representations; CPGRAMS for formal grievances.

Applying to the PLI Scheme for Textiles is free. Selection follows a published objective process, and no consultant can secure an approval or a faster disbursal.

How to check your application status

The PLI Textiles portal does not publish a public, real-time tracking number or status dashboard that an applicant can log into and check like a courier tracking page. Status updates travel through the Project Management Agency (PMA) that the Ministry of Textiles has appointed to run the scheme, IFCI Limited, and through a few fixed channels.

1. Log in to your portal account. Once you have registered on pli.texmin.gov.in and submitted an application, your login shows the stage your file is at, for example submitted, under scrutiny, queries raised, or selected. Check this first before contacting anyone.
2. Watch for queries raised by the PMA. IFCI carries out document scrutiny and ground-level verification of the investment and turnover claims. If something is missing or unclear, a query is raised against your application on the portal or by email; the fastest way to move your file forward is to answer these promptly and completely.
3. Attend the weekly open house. Every Friday between 4 pm and 5 pm, the scheme holds a video conference open house where participants can raise issues about a pending application, a claim, or a query, and get a direct answer instead of waiting on email.
4. Call or email the PMA contact directly for a specific update on your file: +91 7428586853, or plitextiles@ifciltd.com. Quote your application or registration number and company name.
5. For a selected company filing an annual claim, the same channels apply: the claim is verified against GST invoice-level turnover data and investment proof before disbursal, so a delay usually means verification is still in progress rather than rejection. Following up through the PMA contact or the open house is the practical way to learn where a claim stands.
6. For a policy-level grievance that the PMA does not resolve, escalate in writing to the Ministry of Textiles at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi, or file a formal grievance on CPGRAMS, the central government's public grievance portal.

Since the application window for fresh entrants closed on 31 March 2026, most status checks from here on will concern queries on an already-filed application, or the progress of an annual incentive claim, rather than a new submission.