As per Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, up to 32 companies—including household names like Foxconn Group, HP, Dell, and Lenovo—have filed for incentives under the Rs 17,000-crore Production Linked Incentive IT hardware plan for making laptops, PCs, and servers. Asus, Flextronics, Dixon, Acer, Thompson, VVDN, HP Enterprises, and others have also entered the fray. Vaishnaw, the minister for electronics and information technology, referred to the firms' response as "fabulous." Apple, with its headquarters in Cupertino, California, has not yet submitted an application.

 

India is attempting to establish itself as a major participant in the world of high-tech manufacturing by luring international IT and electronics companies with legislative incentives and sweeteners. Vaishnaw said 32 companies have applied under the PLI scheme for IT hardware “which is a very good response, much more than we had anticipated”.

 

Foxconn Group, HP, Dell, and Lenovo have also submitted applications under the comprehensive plan.

 

“India is emerging as a trusted supply chain partner and value added partner…companies are happy to come to India for manufacturing and design work,” the Minister said at a media briefing.

 

India has had sustained development in the production of electronics, with a compound annual growth rate of 17% over the past eight years. A significant output milestone of USD 105 billion (about Rs 9 lakh crore) was attained this year.

 

India is now the second-largest mobile phone producer in the world. This year, mobile phone exports reached a significant milestone of USD 11 billion (about Rs 90,000 crore).