Cabinet approves Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Pharmaceuticals and IT hardware

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi has approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Pharmaceuticals over a period of Financial Year 2020-21 to 2028-29.

The Scheme will benefit domestic manufacturers, help in creating employment and is expected to contribute to the availability of wider range of affordable medicines for consumers.

The scheme is expected to promote the production of high value products in the country and increase the value addition in exports. Total incremental sales of Rs. 2,94,000 crore (US$ 40.63 billion) and total incremental exports of Rs. 1,96,000 crore (US$ 27.08 billion) are estimated during six years from 2022-23 to 2027-28.

The scheme is expected to generate employment for both skilled and un-skilled personnel, estimated at 20,000 direct and 80,000 indirect jobs as a result of growth in the sector.

It is expected to promote innovation for development of complex and high-tech products including products of emerging therapies and in-vitro Diagnostic Devices as also self-reliance in important drugs. It is also expected to improve accessibility and affordability of medical products including orphan drugs to the Indian population. The Scheme is also expected to bring in investment of Rs. 15,000 crore (US$ 2.07 billion) in the pharmaceutical sector.

The scheme will be part of the umbrella scheme for the Development of Pharmaceutical Industry. The objective of the scheme is to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities by increasing investment and production in the sector and contributing to product diversification to high value goods in the pharmaceutical sector. One of the further objectives of the scheme is to create global champions out of India who have the potential to grow in size and scale using cutting edge technology and thereby penetrate the global value chains.

The salient features of the Scheme are as follows:-

Target Groups:

The manufacturers of pharmaceutical goods registered in India will be grouped based on their Global Manufacturing Revenue (GMR) to ensure wider applicability of the scheme across the pharmaceutical industry and at the same time meet the objectives of the scheme. The qualifying criteria for the three groups of applicants will be as follows-

(a) Group A: Applicants having Global Manufacturing Revenue (FY 2019-20) of pharmaceutical goods more than or equal to Rs. 5,000 crore (US$ 690.91 million).

(b) Group B: Applicants having Global Manufacturing Revenue (FY 2019-20) of pharmaceutical goods between Rs. 500 (inclusive) crore (US$ 69.09 million) and Rs. 5,000 crore (US$ 690.91 million).

(c) Group C: Applicants having Global Manufacturing Revenue (FY 2019-20) of pharmaceutical goods less than Rs. 500 crore (US$ 69.09 million). A sub-group for MSME industry will be made within this group, given their specific challenges and circumstances.

Quantum of Incentive:

The total quantum of incentive (inclusive of administrative expenditure) under the scheme is about Rs. 15,000 crore (US$ 2.07 billion). The incentive allocation among the Target Groups is as follows:

(a) Group A: Rs. 11,000 crore (US$ 1.52 billion).

(b) Group B: Rs. 2,250 crore (US$ 310.91 million).

(c) Group C: Rs. 1,750 crore (US$ 241.82 million).

The incentive allocation for Group A and Group C applicants shall not be moved to any-any-another category. However, incentive allocated to Group B applicants, if left underutilized can be moved to Group A applicants.

Financial Year 2019-20 shall be treated as the base year for computation of incremental sales of manufactured goods.

Category of Goods:

The scheme shall cover pharmaceutical goods under three categories as mentioned below:

1. Category 1

Biopharmaceuticals; Complex generic drugs; Patented drugs or drugs nearing patent expiry; Cell based or gene therapy drugs; Orphan drugs; Special empty capsules like HPMC, Pullulan, enteric etc.; Complex excipients; Phyto-pharmaceuticals: Other drugs as approved.

2. Category 2

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients / Key Starting Materials / Drug Intermediates.

3. Category 3 (Drugs not covered under Category 1 and Category 2)

Repurposed drugs; Auto immune drugs, anti-cancer drugs, anti-diabetic drugs, anti-infective drugs, cardiovascular drugs, psychotropic drugs and anti-retroviral drugs; In vitro diagnostic devices; Other drugs as approved; Other drugs not manufactured in India.

Rate of incentive will be 10% (of incremental sales value) for Category 1 and Category 2 products for first four years, 8% for the fifth year and 6% for the sixth year of production under the scheme.

Rate of incentive will be 5% (of incremental sales value) for Category 3 products for first four years, 4% for the fifth year and 3% for the sixth year of production under the scheme.

The duration of the scheme will be from FY 2020-21 to FY 2028-29. This will include the period for processing of applications (FY 2020-21), optional gestation period of one year (FY 2021-22), incentive for 6 years and FY 2028-29 for disbursal of incentive for sales of FY 2027-28.

Background:

Indian pharmaceutical industry is 3rd largest in the world by volume and is worth US$ 40 billion in terms of value. The country contributes 3.5% of total drugs and medicines exported globally. India exports pharmaceuticals to more than 200 countries and territories including highly regulated markets such as USA, UK, European Union, Canada etc. India has a complete ecosystem for the development and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals with companies having state of the art facilities and highly skilled/technical manpower. The country also has a number of renowned pharmaceutical educational and research institutes and a robust support of allied industries.

At present, low value generic drugs account for the major component of Indian exports, while a large proportion of the domestic demand for patented drugs is met through imports. This is because the Indian Pharmaceutical sector lacks in high value production along with the necessary pharma R&D. In order to incentivize the global and domestic players to enhance investment and production in diversified product categories, a well-designed and suitably targeted intervention is required to incentivise specific high value goods such as bio-pharmaceuticals, complex generic drugs, patented drugs or drugs nearing patent expiry and cell based or gene therapy products etc.

IT Hardware

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister; Mr. Narendra Modi has approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for IT Hardware. The scheme proposes production linked incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the value chain of IT Hardware. The Target Segments under the proposed Scheme include Laptops, Tablets, All-in-One PCs and Servers.

The Scheme shall, extend an incentive of 4% to 2% / 1% on net incremental sales (over base year i.e. 2019-20) of goods manufactured in India and covered under the target segment, to eligible companies, for a period of four (4) years.

The scheme is likely to benefit5 major global players and 10 domestic champions in the field of IT Hardware manufacturing including Laptops, Tablets, All-in-One PCs, and Servers. This is an important segment to promote manufacturing under Aatmanirbhar Bharat as there is huge import reliance for these items at present.

Financial Implications:

The total cost of the proposed scheme is approximately Rs. 7,350 crore (US$ 1.02 billion) over 4 years, which includes an incentive outlay of Rs. 7,325 crore (US$ 1.01 billion) and administrative charges of Rs. 25 crore (US$ 3.45 million).

Benefits:

The scheme will enhance the development of electronics ecosystem in the country. India will be well positioned as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) on account of integration with global value chains, thereby becoming a destination for IT Hardware exports.

The scheme has an employment generation potential of over 1,80,000 (direct and indirect) over 4 years.

The Scheme will provide impetus to Domestic Value Addition for IT Hardware which is expected to rise to 20% - 25% by 2025.

Background:

The vision of National Policy on Electronics 2019 notified on 25.02.2019 is to position India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) by encouraging and driving capabilities in the country for developing core components, including chipsets, and creating an enabling environment for the industry to compete globally.

Currently, the laptop and tablet demand in India is largely met through imports valued at US$ 4.21 billion and US$ 0.41 billion respectively in 2019-20. The market for IT Hardware is dominated by 6-7 companies globally which account for about 70% of the world's market share. These companies are able to exploit large economies of scale to compete in global markets. It is imperative that these companies expand their operations in India and make it a major destination for manufacturing of IT Hardware.

Given the current global scenario, the world of manufacturing is undergoing a paradigm shift. Manufacturing companies across the globe are looking to diversify their manufacturing locations to mitigate the risk involved in depending on a single market.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.