The Union textiles ministry plans tom make the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme more flexible to attract more investments and encourage greater manufacturing. The plan is to add more product lines under the scheme. Launched two years ago with a budgetary outlay of Rs 10,683 crore, the scheme aims to boost local production of man-made fabric (MMF) garments and technical textiles.
Media reports suggest, the ministry has sought an approval for extending the HSN (harmonised system) codes of MMF to include as many categories as possible. The reason for this extension is the expanding scope of textile and fashion industry and increasing demand for fabrics. The earlier HSN codes were wrongly fixed, leading to confusion between artificial and natural fibers.
However, the present government hopes to widen their applications to invite more investments in the industry. The guidelines of the scheme were first released in December 2021. The government had received 64 applications with commitments worth approximately Rs 6,000 crore. The government has also sought the cabinet’s approval for another iteration of the PLI scheme for the textiles sector, with a focus on the apparels segment. The second edition of the scheme will focus on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by lowering their investment limits to Rs 50 crore and Rs 25 crore under Part 1 and Part 2, respectively.
An amount of Rs 4,000 crore from the money unutilised in the first place will be used to fund PLI 2.0, said the official.
