Telecom PLI Scheme: Mahindra, Sterlite, Kenstel Likely to be Rejected

Under the Rs 12,195 crore Telecom PLI scheme, the government has created a shortlist of 33 candidates out of the 36 who expressed their interest.

Telecom PLI Scheme Winners Announcement Coming

The government will likely reject the applications of Tech Mahindra, Sterlite Technologies and Kenstel Networks, on technical grounds. The scheme, which invited telecom gear makers to submit their investment plans to be eligible for receiving investment.

The government first notified about the deal on 24th February this year. In July, the DoT received 36 applications; out of which the government will reject three, per a source. The source added that the government will notify about the winners soon, with the winners investing Rs 3,455 crore as proposed investments.

Sterlite Technologies will get rejected for falling short of the Rs 10,000-crore revenue; it had that requirement for the 'global' category that it filed its application under. A source said, “in the certificate for global revenue, the company has taken the revenue of ‘Vedanta’. It is also mentioned in the certificate by the applicant that the said revenue is not from electronic, IT/ITeS, including software, telecom and networking segment. If Vedanta’s revenue is excluded, the global revenue stands at Rs 5,180 crore, which is lower than the minimum threshold of Rs 10,000 crore for global companies".

Tech Mahindra, that had applied under 'domestic' category, has also been rejected. Since the company does not manufacture telecom equipment right now; it makes telecom software, however. The source said, “the company has applied for product, namely ‘software development’ in category ‘any other product’, as decided by empowered group of secretaries. The scheme only envisages manufacturing of goods, and ‘software’ is not covered under specified ‘telecom and networking products’ category".

Lastly, Kenstel Networks, which applied under MSME, has certified its revenues at Rs 6.4 crore. Like Sterlite, Kenstel also falls short of its category threshold, hence the reason for rejection.

Who's Who of Who's In

Seven out of the 8 global companies have made the cut, sources told TOI. These are:

• Foxconn (proposed investment Rs 208 crore)
• Rising Stars Hi-Tech (Rs 125 crore)
• Nokia Solutions (Rs 125 crore)
• Flextronics (Rs 102 crore)
• Jabil Circuit (Rs 176 crore)
• CommScope (Rs 209 crore), and
• Sanmina-SCI (Rs 110 crore)

The government approved 26 companies on the domestic front; 9 large companies, 17 MSMEs. These are,

• Akashastha Technologies (proposed investment Rs 593 crore)
• VVDN Technologies (Rs 400 crore)
• Neolync Tele Communications (Rs 188 crore)
• Dixon Electro Appliances (Rs 180 crore)
• ITI (Rs 120 crore)
• Tejas Networks (Rs 111 crore)
• GDN Enterprises (Rs 46 crore), and
• STL Networks (Rs 49 crore)

The government introduced the scheme to promote manufacturing of telecom equipment locally. The telecom PLI scheme includes core transmission equipment, RANs, IoT access and enterprise devices. The government further aims to create a manufacturing hub within the country to make telecom a locally-substained industry.