Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing

What is the PLI Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing?

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing is a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) scheme notified on 1 April 2020 under Gazette Notification No. CG-DL-E-01042020-218990. The scheme pays companies a percentage of their incremental sales of mobile phones and specified electronic components manufactured in India, measured against the base year 2019-20.

State plainly what this is: a corporate incentive scheme, not a citizen benefit. No individual can apply. The scheme exists to shift global mobile phone assembly and component manufacturing into India by offsetting the cost disadvantage of manufacturing here, an estimated 8.5% to 11% gap arising from infrastructure, logistics, financing and supply chain limitations.

Key objectives

• Attract large-scale investment in mobile phone and electronic component manufacturing in India.
• Build a domestic electronics supply chain rather than an import-and-assemble model.
• Grow electronics exports and reduce dependence on imported handsets.

Main features

• Incentive of 4% to 6% of incremental sales of eligible goods over the base year.
• Base year FY 2019-20; incentive period of five years.
• Applications processed through IFCI Ltd as Project Management Agency.
• Separate segments for mobile handsets and for specified electronic components, including ATMP units.
• A second round covered specified electronic components at incentive rates tapering from 5% to 3% over four years.

Who is eligible for the PLI scheme for large scale electronics manufacturing?

Companies can apply if they:

• Are registered in India and manufacturing goods covered by the target segments, mobile phones or specified electronic components.
• Meet the threshold incremental investment in plant, machinery, equipment and associated utilities prescribed for their segment. Different thresholds applied to the global-company handset segment, the domestic-company handset segment and the components segment.
• Achieve the threshold incremental sales of manufactured goods over the base year 2019-20 in each claim year.
• Applied within the application window, which is now closed.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual, sole proprietor seeking a personal benefit, student or job seeker. There is no citizen-facing component to this scheme at all.
• You are a company that did not apply during the open window. The IFCI PLI portal states that the "application window has been closed".
• Your products fall outside the notified target segments.
• You fail to meet the investment or incremental sales thresholds in a claim year. In that case, incentive for that year is forfeited even if investment was made. The scheme pays on outcomes, not intentions.

A further practical exclusion matters: incentive is calculated on sales above the 2019-20 base, so a company whose sales stagnate at base-year levels receives nothing regardless of how much capital it deployed.

How much incentive does the PLI scheme pay?

The first round of the scheme pays 4% to 6% of incremental sales of eligible goods manufactured in India, over the base year 2019-20, for five years. The higher 6% rate applies to the earlier years of the incentive period and tapers towards 4%.

The scheme was structured around distinct handset segments; one aimed at global companies manufacturing higher-value handsets, and one reserved for domestic companies at lower price points, with electronic components forming a separate segment. A second round of the scheme, covering specified electronic components, applied incentive rates tapering from 5% to 3% over four years against the same 2019-20 base year.

On the total outlay, government sources cite different figures: roughly Rs 38,600 crore to Rs 41,000 crore across PIB releases and MeitY documents, with subsequent budgetary revisions. Because the figures do not reconcile across official sources and MeitY's own portal blocks automated retrieval, treat the outlay as approximate and check the gazette notification for the operative number.

What has the scheme achieved?

According to a PIB release covering the scheme, 32 companies were approved under PLI for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing, of which 10 were for mobile phone manufacturing (5 global and 5 domestic companies). Those 32 companies committed investment of around Rs 11,324 crore against a projected production target of about Rs 10.7 lakh crore.

On realised outcomes, PIB reported cumulative investment of Rs 8,282 crore by the approved companies as at mid-2024, with mobile phones and components worth over Rs 5.14 lakh crore produced under the scheme. Government statements in 2025 and 2026 indicate the scheme has catalysed roughly Rs 96,000 crore of investment across the mobile production ecosystem, and that incentive disbursement across electronics PLI schemes had reached the order of Rs 15,554 crore.

What documents are required from an applicant company?

How to apply for the PLI scheme for large scale electronics manufacturing

The application window is closed. The process below is recorded for reference and for companies managing existing claims under the scheme.

1. Open the PLI portal operated by IFCI Ltd at pli.ifciltd.com, the Project Management Agency appointed by MeitY.
2. Register the applicant company with its corporate identity number, PAN and GST registration, and create login credentials.
3. Select the target segment: mobile phone manufacturing at the applicable handset segment, or specified electronic components including ATMP.
4. Upload the detailed project report, setting out the committed incremental investment in plant, machinery, equipment and R&D, and the projected incremental sales year by year.
5. Submit audited financial statements for FY 2019-20 to fix the base year sales figure against which all incentive is calculated.
6. Attach the board resolution authorising the application and the declarations required by the scheme guidelines.
7. Pay the prescribed application fee and submit before the window closes.
8. After approval, file annual incentive claims through the same portal, each supported by a statutory auditor's certificate of eligible incremental sales and evidence of the investment made.

What replaced this scheme for new applicants?

MeitY has moved on to successor schemes rather than reopening this window. Companies looking for current electronics manufacturing support should examine the PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT Hardware and the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme, both notified separately, as well as the Semicon India Programme for semiconductor fabrication and packaging.

Each has its own eligibility, incentive structure and application window, and none of them is open to individuals either.

Where companies get help with PLI

• IFCI Ltd, Project Management Agency: pli@ifciltd.com, and the PLI helpdesk contact listed on the portal, +91 93190 19068
• IFCI Tower, 61 Nehru Place, New Delhi, the PMA's registered address
• PLI portal: pli.ifciltd.com, claim filing and scheme documents
• MeitY, scheme guidelines and gazette notifications

A note on sourcing: MeitY's website returns an access error to automated retrieval, so scheme parameters here were verified against the IFCI PLI portal, PIB press releases, and the scheme summary published by the electronics industry association ELCINA. Where official figures conflict, this guide states the range rather than picking one.

How to check your application status

Since the application window is closed, "status" for this scheme now mainly means the status of an approved company's ongoing incentive claim, not a fresh application. There is no public applicant-facing tracking number system of the kind citizen schemes use; status runs through direct correspondence with the Project Management Agency.

• Log in to the PLI portal at pli.ifciltd.com with the company's registered credentials to view the status of submitted incentive claims for a given financial year: under review, queries raised, or disbursed.
• Check the claim workflow stage. IFCI processes each annual claim in stages, verification of the auditor's certificate, reconciliation against GST sales data, and approval for disbursement. A claim can sit at any of these stages; the portal dashboard is the primary place this is visible.
• Contact the IFCI PLI helpdesk directly at pli@ifciltd.com or +91 93190 19068 if a claim has not moved for an extended period, or if the portal does not reflect a submission that was made. Quote the company's application or claim reference number in any communication.
• Write to the Project Management Agency office at IFCI Tower, 61 Nehru Place, New Delhi, for issues that email and phone follow-up do not resolve, particularly disputes over incremental sales computation or investment verification.
• Track disbursement through PIB and MeitY announcements. Because the scheme discloses aggregate disbursement figures periodically (as seen in the Rs 8,282 crore and Rs 15,554 crore figures cited in official releases), a company can cross-check whether a disbursement round has occurred industry-wide even before its own portal status updates.

There is no SMS or missed-call status check for this scheme, since it has no individual beneficiaries. Any message claiming to offer one is not connected to MeitY or IFCI.

Common reasons for rejection

Rejection under this scheme happens both at the original application stage (now closed) and, more relevantly today, at the annual incentive claim stage for already-approved companies. The reasons are specific to how incremental sales and investment are verified, not generic paperwork errors.

• Incremental sales fall below the base year threshold. If a company's sales in a claim year do not exceed the FY 2019-20 base by the prescribed margin, no incentive is payable for that year at all, regardless of investment made. Fix: model sales trajectory against the fixed base year before committing to production targets, since the base year cannot be renegotiated per company.
• Investment threshold not met for the segment. Each segment, global handset, domestic handset, or components, carries its own minimum incremental investment in plant, machinery and equipment. A claim is rejected for a year in which that threshold was not achieved. Fix: track cumulative eligible investment separately from the sales figure, since both conditions must be satisfied independently.
• Products fall outside the notified target segment. Claims for goods not covered by the gazette notification's list of eligible mobile phones or specified electronic components are disallowed. Fix: confirm HSN/product classification against the scheme's notified list before including a product line's sales in a claim.
• Auditor's certificate is incomplete or inconsistent with GST filings. Since claims are reconciled against GST return data, a statutory auditor's certificate that does not match the company's filed GST turnover for the relevant period is a common point of query or rejection. Fix: reconcile the auditor's certificate figures with GST returns before submission, not after a query is raised.
• Application submitted after the window closed. This is now a closed door rather than a fixable error: the IFCI PLI portal states the window has closed, and there is no exception process for late corporate applicants. Companies not among the approved 32 cannot enter this particular scheme and should instead evaluate the PLI 2.0 for IT Hardware or Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme windows.
• Missing or improperly authorised board resolution. A claim or application filed without a board resolution naming the authorised signatory, or where the signatory does not match the resolution, is returned for correction. Fix: ensure the resolution is current for the specific application or claim year being filed, not a stale one from an earlier filing.