India’s PLI scheme blossoms amid efforts to cut China imports

“We have signalled to the industry that we want to cut imports particularly from China,” one of the government official sources, said.

India’s IT hardware market, including laptops, is estimated at nearly $20 billion, with nearly $5 billion domestic production, according to Mordor Intelligence, a consultancy.

India announced the new system for laptops, tablets, personal computers and servers after it rolled back an earlier plan to impose a licensing regime, requiring the likes of Apple , Dell and HP to obtain licences for shipments of imported laptops and tablets.

In the first phase, the government has approved incentives for 27 IT hardware manufacturers including Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to manufacturer in India, expecting production of about $42 billion over the next few years, government officials said.

“India has a strong case for building its own laptop manufacturing capabilities,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder of Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a Delhi-based think tank, noting that China contributed significantly to these imports worth over $9 billion in 2023/24.

In India, rising incomes, expanding business activities and education have boosted demand for laptops and other devices, that favour local manufacturing.

Among local electronics manufacturers, Dixon Technologies has qualified for the incentives scheme and hopes to meet 15 per cent of India’s domestic demand by the fiscal year 2025/26.

“Dixon plans to create a capacity of 2 million units by FY26, which shall cater to 15 per cent of India’s total requirement,” Prithvi Vachani, Executive Director at Dixon Technologies told Reuters.

Dixon, that has separate pacts with global firms like HP to make laptops and computers in India, will secure manufacturing components locally “in times to come”, Vachani added.

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