The Indian government plans to expand the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for textiles by including a wider range of products and lowering the minimum investment and turnover criteria.

Initially launched in 2021 with an approved outlay of Rs10,683 crore, the PLI scheme for textiles has so far been limited to the production of man-made fibers (MMF) apparel, MMF fabrics, and technical textile products. The scheme was reopened last year after the initial round did not attract enough investments to fully utilise the earmarked funds. Despite industry pressure to include cotton garments and reduce the investment and turnover thresholds, no changes were made during the second application round.

Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh recently announced that the PLI scheme might be expanded to cover all types of garments, ending speculation on the matter. However expansion of the scheme to cover garments made of all fibers, including cotton would entail lowering of the minimum investment and turnover criteria to ensure benefits to garment manufacturing units, opines an industry official

The scheme is currently divided into two parts: the first part requires a minimum investment of Rs100 crore and a minimum turnover of Rs200 crore, while the second part requires a minimum investment of Rs300 crore and a minimum turnover of Rs400 crore. The incentive is higher for entities opting for the higher investment and turnover criteria.

The proposed changes to the scheme will require several approvals. Firstly, it needs to be approved by Textile Ministry andthe Textiles Minister. Thereafter, the Finance Ministry needs to be approve the proposal, adds the official.