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Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal recently announced that 7 new Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes that are not part of the original program have been approved as part of the Government’s commitment to supporting manufacturing in India.

The idea behind PLI is to promote those champion sectors where the country has comparative and competitive advantages. According to Goyal, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the real beneficiaries of the PLI scheme because large industries already have an ecosystem of manufacturers and service providers with them. “The mainstay of India is MSMEs and the mainstay of MSMEs is the large industry which aggregates what our MSMEs are doing and provides them with more opportunities,” he said. The Minister also assured that every PLI scheme is very carefully and thoroughly assessed in collaboration with the industry before being formulated. He added that the PLI was just a kick-start mechanism and therefore needs to have a sunset clause as ultimately the industry needs to be viable and independent.

The Minister also highlighted the country’s green energy push and said that India is one of those few countries which have not only met the commitment it made in Paris in 2015 but exceeded it, as well. “We committed to 175 GW of clean energy. We have now upped the ante to set a target of 500 GW and we are well on track to achieve it,” he said. India is on track to create a 1 billion tonne Carbon sink through afforestation and rejuvenation and has been working on newer technologies like green Hydrogen to ensure a round-the-clock supply of renewable energy.

According to Goyal, efforts are also being made to collaborate with like-minded nations to create an international solar grid. He also invited participation from academia and industry in the Government’s pursuit of sustainable development.