Steel producers’ investment under PLI is less than the target

Mumbai: As a result of delays in importing machinery from China and getting visas for Chinese experts, India’s major steel producers could not meet their investment commitments under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in the financial year 2023-24. The overall investment under the PLI scheme is also not particularly encouraging.

Under the PLI launched in 2020 for the steel industry, 27 steel producers in the country signed 57 agreements with the government, under which investment of Rs 210 billion was assured in the financial year 2023-24.

According to the data received, steel companies were able to invest only Rs 150 billion in the last financial year. Government sources said that due to low investment, capacity expansion in the steel industry has also slowed down.

India is the second largest producer of crude steel in the world. Sources said the contracts under the PLI scheme could not be completed due to delay in getting machinery and experts from China.

As a result of border tensions, relations between India and China have become tense since 2020.

The government’s PLI scheme to promote investment and generate employment in the country is not showing the expected results. Looking at the data received, it seems that the expected investment under PLI has not been received and employment has not been created.

Indian companies invested Rs 1.07 trillion under PLI in the two years ending December 2023.

An investment of Rs 3 lakh crore was guaranteed in two years under PLI for 14 sectors. Thus, an earlier report stated that 35 percent of the expected investment had been received. Against the expectation of creating 11.50 lakh jobs under the scheme, only 4.90 lakh jobs have been created.