NEW DELHI, AUGUST 30 (Reuters) – At least 32 international electronics companies have applied for India’s incentive scheme to manufacture laptops, tablets and servers in the country, a senior minister said on Wednesday, weeks after the government announced curbs on imports of laptop computers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is seeking to increase domestic manufacturing capacity through its “Make in India” initiative, and several international companies are setting up their own units or partnering with Indian companies in joint ventures.
The electronics companies’ demands were made under a $2 billion national production-linked incentive program (PLI) (link) for computer hardware, announced in May, said Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Earlier this month, India announced it would impose (link) licenses on imports of laptops, tablets and personal computers, in what was widely seen as a move to boost local production.
Companies that have applied to manufacture laptops and other products in India include Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE.N, Dell Technologies DELL.N, Asus
2357.TW, Acer 2353.TW and Lenovo 0992.HK, Vaishnaw said, according to a video feed from news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake.
The PLI hardware program is expected to generate an additional investment of 24.3 billion rupees ($294.24 million) and is expected to create 75,000 direct jobs, the minister said.
($1 = 82.5855 Indian rupees)
