New Delhi, Dec 16 : The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, launched by the Narendra Modi government in March 2020, has turned out to be a game changer in giving a big push to India’s manufacturing sector, employment generation and exports.

The country has for the first time emerged as a strong exporter of electronic goods with India-made smartphones of top global brands Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung (KS:005930) spearheading the charge.

The PLI Scheme has led to major smartphone companies shifting their suppliers to India. These include Taiwanese giant Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron.

In another major breakthrough on the industrial front, work is on to set up a factory to produce semiconductors by US chip giant Micron (NASDAQ:MU) Technologies near Ahmedabad.

There has been a 60 per cent surge in India’s electronic goods exports in April-October this year to $15.5 billion compared to 2022-23 when $23.6 billion worth of electronic goods were shipped out during the entire year.

According to DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, PLI Schemes resulted in a robust increase of 76 per cent in FDI in the manufacturing sector in FY 2021-22 (USD 21.34 billion) compared to previous FY 2020-21 (USD 12.09 billion).

The PLI scheme envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the objective of making India 'Aatma Nirbhar' is built on the foundation of 14 sectors with an incentive outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore (about US$ 26 billion) to strengthen the production capabilities and help create global champions.

Import substitution of 60 per cent has been achieved in the Telecom sector and India has become almost self-reliant in Antennae, GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) & CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). Drones sector has seen a 7 times jump in turnover due to the PLI Scheme which consists of all MSME Startups, according to data compiled by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.