A top minister said on Wednesday that at least 32 multinational electronics companies had applied to India’s incentive scheme to manufacture laptops, tablets, and servers in the country, weeks after the government put limitations on laptop imports.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to increase domestic manufacturing capacity through its “Make in India” campaign, with major foreign companies either establishing their own operations or forming joint ventures with Indian firms.
The applications were submitted by electronics companies as part of the country’s $2 billion production-linked incentive (PLI) program for information technology devices, which was unveiled in May, according to Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Earlier this month, Modi announced that imports of laptops, tablets, and personal computers would be subject to a license requirement, which was largely seen as a bid to stimulate domestic production.
ANI news agency disclosed in a video feed, in which Reuters has a minority investment, that Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co., Dell Technologies, Asus, Acer, and Lenovo are among the companies that have applied to manufacture laptops and other products in India.
The PLI scheme for IT hardware is estimated to produce 24.3 billion rupees ($294.24 million) in incremental investment and 75,000 direct jobs, according to the minister.
