TOPIC : GS 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment.

Catching up

What is the news?

• The Cabinet’s approval of a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the textile sector that is expressly targeted at the man­made fibre (MMF) and technical textiles
• It is segments is a belated acknowledgment by the Government that the ground has shifted in the global textiles trade.

Structural Change in the Demands

• A relentless shift in consumer preferences and fashion trends saw MMF surpass cotton as the fibre of choice in the 1990s, since vaulting its share in worldwide textile consumption to about 75%.
• India’s textile and clothing exports on the other hand have continued to remain dominated by cotton and other natural fibre­based products
• The MMF having contributed less than 30% of the country’s 35.6 billion in overall sectoral exports in 2017­18.
• The share remained relatively unchanged in the last fiscal as well when the sectoral exports were about $33 billion.

Policy making in the sector

• Policy makers have been aware of the need to bolster support for the MMF segment, the task of crafting initiative that enhanced investment in capacity creation, leading to increased exports, has been a while in coming.
• Decision on the focused PLI scheme, with a budgeted outlay of 10,683 crore, is the second time in 11 months that the Cabinet has approved what is broadly the same plan,

• The Government using the intervening period to incorporate amendments to the incentive structure based on industry feedback.
• The aim of the scheme is to specifically focus investment attention on 40 MMF apparel product lines, 14 MMF fabric lines and 10 segments or products of technical textiles.
• These 64 items have been chosen on account of being among the top traded lines in the global market as well as India having less than a 5% share in each of them.

Way Forward

• The inclusion of intermediate products at industry’s request also reflects the Government’s keenness to ensure the scheme ultimately delivers on the broader policy objectives.
• The incentives have been categorised into two investment levels.
• Firms investing at least 300 crore into plant and machinery over two years for making a specified product would need to hit a minimum turnover of 600 crore before becoming eligible to receive the incentive over a five-year period
• The second level an investment of 100 crore with a pre­set minimum turnover of 200 crore would enable qualification for the incentive.
• On the face of it, the scheme appears designed with a fair deal , but its operational success is likely to hinge on how new entrepreneurs and existing companies weigh the risk reward equation,
• At a time the pandemic­spurred uncertainty has already made private businesses leery of making fresh capital expenditure

Mains Question

Why the success of the PLI is likely to hinge on how entrepreneurs weigh the risk­reward equation ?

Sources : https://www.editorialwords.com/the-hindu-editorial-catching-up-sep-10-2021/