NEWS9 Live's video: Why Is India Giving Faster Visas To Chinese PLI CHINA 1 Manufacturing Make in India

The evolution of India-China relations has been complex one to say the least and has gone through various phases of ups and downs politically and economically. While there’s tension on our borders, China remains India biggest trading partner globally. Political posturing notwithstanding, the new central government has decided to expedite visa-related issues in order to draw in technicians and skilled personnel from China. Not just that, the new administration is leaving no stone unturned in further smoothening the implementation processes of its pet PLI scheme. Emphasising the new government’s commitment towards boosting manufacturing in India via the PLI scheme, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said, and I quote: “If those under the PLI scheme need to get their equipment installed, we try to expedite the ability to get technicians into India from any country, whichever it may be,”. Unquote. This move comes against the backdrop of a large section of industry seeking government intervention in resolving visa processing delays of Chinese vendors involved in various manufacturing projects in India especially in the 14 sectors that come under the PLI scheme. Seemingly companies, and primarily those under the PLI ambit, have been facing productivity issues ever since the PLI scheme took effect back in 2020. These issues are mostly due to visa hurdles in areas ranging from component manufacturing to installation and repairing of machinery. As China is still the source of a large portion of machinery that companies in India are employing for their manufacturing needs, technicians from China become extremely necessary for machine installation and maintenance. Delays in visa related issues has affected manufacturing implementations is sectors such as Solar PV modules, speciality steel, and white goods. Ever since the formation of this government, several ministries and departments have gotten busy addressing these visa issues with the Ministry of External Affairs. Not just that, even the Ministry of Home Affairs has been working towards finalising a standard operating procedure in order to streamline the processes involved in applying for Indian business visas under the PLI scheme. Why the overdrive? The PLI scheme, along with ‘Make in India’ has been of the pet projects of the Modi government in its quest towards making India a global manufacturing hub. Both have witnessed considerable amount of success in some sectors, especially electronics. In its third term, the government obviously wants to leave no stone unturned in ensuring the fruition of the 197 trillion rupees it has set aside its success. The PLI scheme came into effect in April 2020. 45% of the 197 trillion rupees set aside for it were invested in the electronics manufacturing space. Today Apple and Samsung produce most of their smartphones in India. Exports in this category have risen 4.5 billion in the last fiscal. It’s worth noting here that during the same time smartphone exports from China have fallen by about three billion dollars; and those from Vietnam by about 5 billion dollars. That’s how successful the PLI scheme for electronics manufacturing has been and it does make sense for India to double down on skilled resources from competing nations to become the factory of the world – even if that means keeping politics at bay for an economic opportunity. .............................................................................................. News9 is India's first fully integrated English news brand across all digital platforms. It includes a publishing platform, viz. www.news9live.com, a future-ready OTT platform, News9 Plus, and a 24-Hour video streaming service on connected TVs and all social platforms. It's the English news brand that understands and fits perfectly into the digital-first lifestyles of our English news audiences. ► News9 Plus App : https://onelink.to/8pwfkc ► News9 OTT Coupons : https://bit.ly/4dwLDx4 ► Watch us on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/c/NEWS9LIVE ► Like us on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/news9live ► Follow us on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/news9live ► Follow us on Twitter : https://twitter.com/NEWS9TWEETS