Schemes for Electronic Manufacturing in India

Context:

• The government has said that a total of 22 companies have filed applications under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme that aims to boost local manufacturing of mobile phones and components.
• This is expected to bring in additional investment of about 11,000 crores in electronics manufacturing while leading to total production worth 11.5 lakh crore over the next five years

Schemes for Electronic Manufacturing

Recently, the government notified three schemes involving total incentives of around Rs 48,000 crore for electronics manufacturing,

1. The Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for large-scale electronics manufacturing.
2. The Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS).
3. The Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme.

The schemes are expected to

• Attract Rs 1 lakh crore investment in the sector.
• Boost local electronics manufacturing and generate manufacturing revenue potential of Rs 10 lakh crore by 2025.
• Create 20 lakh direct and indirect jobs by 2025.

Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing

• The scheme proposes a financial incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the electronics value chain including electronic components and semiconductor packaging.
• Under the scheme, electronic manufacturing companies will get an incentive of 4 to 6% on incremental sales (over the base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments, to eligible companies over a period of the next 5 years.
• The scheme shall only be applicable for target segments namely mobile phones and specified electronic components.
• The government estimates that with the PLI scheme, domestic value addition for mobile phones is expected to rise to 35-40% by 2025 from the current level of 20-25% and generate additional 8 lakh jobs, both direct and indirect.
• The production of mobile phones in the country has surged eight times in the last four years from around Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1.7 lakh crore in 2018-19 .

Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors

• Under the scheme, a financial incentive of 25% of capital expenditure has been approved by the Union Cabinet for the manufacturing of goods that constitute the supply chain of an electronic product.
• The SPECS notified for manufacturing of electronics components and semiconductors has a budget outlay of Rs 3,285 crore spread over a period of eight years.
• The government estimates that push for manufacturing of electronics components and electronic chips will create around 6 lakh direct and indirect jobs.

Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters Scheme

• The EMC 2.0 has a total incentive outlay of Rs 3,762.25 crore spread over a period of 8 years with an objective to create 10 lakh direct and indirect jobs under the scheme.
• The EMC 2.0 scheme will provide financial assistance up to 50% of the project cost subject to a ceiling of Rs 70 crore per 100 acres of land for setting up of Electronics Manufacturing Cluster projects.
• Electronic manufacturing clusters to be set up under the scheme will be spread in an area of 200 acres across India and 100 acres in North East part of the country.

Credit guarantee extended to larger firms, self-employed

Context:

• The Centre has expanded its credit guarantee scheme for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to cover loans given to larger firms, as well as to self-employed people and professionals who have taken loans for business purposes.

News

• The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme was rolled out as part of the Centre’s Aatmanirbhar package in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
• It has a corpus of 41,600 crores and provides fully guaranteed additional funding of up to 3 lakh crore.
• Eligible MSMEs must have an annual turnover up to 100 crore, with outstanding loans of up to 25 crore as on February 29, 2020.

Barakah nuclear power plant

• The United Arab Emirates has announced the start-up of its Barakah nuclear power plant.
• Barakah was built by a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation.
• The plant is located on a sparsely populated strip of desert on the Persian Gulf coast. It has 4 nuclear reactors.
• It will have a total capacity of 5,600 megawatts, which is almost a fifth of the country’s current installed generating capacity.
• Its first nuclear reactor has achieved its first criticality.
• This has opened the way for commercial operations.
• Read more about Arab’s first Space Mission to Mars.

NEP drops Mandarin from the language list

Context

• The National Education Policy (NEP) has dropped Mandarin (Chinese) from its list of foreign languages that can be taught in schools.

News

• The language was included in the draft policy released in May 2019, but is missing from the final document approved by the Cabinet.
• However, Higher Education Secretary has pointed out that Schools are free to offer other languages.
• The plan for teaching Mandarin in Indian schools and Hindi language instruction in Chinese schools was part of an Education Exchange Programme signed by both countries in 2006, which was renewed by Prime Minister Modi during his visit to China in 2015.
• The plan included a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2012.
• In 2014, the CBSE then introduced Mandarin in some schools, but the plan floundered due to the unavailability of Chinese language teachers.
• Since 2017, the government has systematically curbed annual scholarship programmes with China as well.
• The U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea offer Chinese at the school level.

Dhole conservation

• A study has pointed out that Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh rank high in the conservation of the endangered dhole, in India.

About Dhole:

• Also known as the Asiatic wild dog, Dhole (Cuon alpinus) is native to Central, South, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
• Dholes play an important role as apex predators in forest ecosystems.
• Dholes hunt in packs and tend to venture into forested landscapes adjoining protected areas.
• Besides the tiger, the dhole is the only large carnivore in India to be classified in the ‘endangered’ category by the IUCN.
• It is protected under Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.