Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, said India must focus on sectors in which the country has a competitive edge over other countries and address the problems faced by various stakeholders so that the country’s exports can grow.
His remarks came at the review meeting on the Production Linked Incentive Scheme, one of the notable initiatives for making India “Aatmanirbhar’ in the manufacturing sector.
He further urged the need for becoming self-reliant in the key sectors covered under the PLI Scheme.
Emphasizing that the Ministries should focus on creating quality skilled manpower instead of focusing on the quantity and resolve infrastructure bottlenecks in collaboration with NICDC, Goyal stressed on preparing a roadmap for the next five years both on investment and disbursement.
Notably, PLI Scheme is under various stages of implementation in 14 key sectors, and witnessed investments worth Rs 1.76 lakh crores. This has generated production/ sales of over Rs 16.5 lakh crore and employment of over 12 lakhs (Direct & Indirect) till March 2025, as per the government data.
Further, the cumulative incentive amount of Rs 21,534 crore has been disbursed under PLI Schemes for 12 Sectors viz. Large-Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM), IT Hardware, Bulk Drugs, Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom & Networking Products, Food Processing, White Goods, Automobiles & Auto components, Specialty Steel, Textiles and Drones & Drone Components.
Under the scheme, the pharmaceutical sector has recorded cumulative sales of ₹2.66 lakh crore over the first three years, including exports worth ₹1.70 lakh crore.
In FY 2024-25 alone, export sales of PLI-eligible pharmaceutical products stood at ₹0.67 lakh crore, accounting for approximately 27% of the country’s total pharma exports during the period.
The food processing sector under PLI has seen investments worth ₹9,032 crore, generating total production and sales of ₹3,80,350 crore and creating employment for 3,40,116 individuals, both directly and indirectly.
In the textiles sector, the PLI scheme has led to a rise in exports of Indian Man-Made Fibre (MMF) textiles, which reached US$ 6 billion in FY 2024-25, up from US$ 5.7 billion in FY 2023-24.
Technical textiles exports also saw notable growth, increasing from US$ 2,986.6 million in FY 2023-24 to US$ 3,356.5 million in FY 2024-25.