PLI Schemes Assessed: Strong Investment and Production, but Gaps in Jobs, Value Addition and Exports
NITI Aayog, working with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, released an assessment of all 14 Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. The data covers the period up to March 2026.
The schemes have attracted cumulative investment of about ₹2.40 lakh crore and production (sales) worth about ₹22.66 lakh crore. This is 76% of the investment target and 64% of the production target for the full life of the schemes.
Jobs are the weakest area. The schemes created employment for about 8.49 lakh people, only about 28% of the target of 30.18 lakh jobs. One reason: big, highly automated (machine-heavy) factories invest a lot but hire fewer people.
Out of a combined outlay (total money set aside) of ₹1.91 lakh crore, incentives of about ₹35,354 crore, or 18.51%, had been paid out.
Electronics, telecom and pharmaceutical drugs did well. In white goods (ACs and LED lights), domestic value addition (the share of a product's value actually created in India) rose from about 20% to 55%.
The report flagged dependence on imported high-value parts, technology gaps, project delays and uneven export results. It suggested combining supply-side support with demand-side incentives that push buyers to use Indian-made products.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
The PLI Scheme is a government plan that pays companies a cash reward for producing more in India. The reward is a small percentage of the extra sales a company makes from goods made in its Indian factories, compared with a starting (base) year. So the more a company makes and sells beyond that base, the more it earns. The aim is to build large-scale manufacturing, cut imports and raise exports.
The NITI Aayog and IIM Ahmedabad assessment is the first big report card on all 14 PLI schemes. It shows the scheme has worked well on investment and production, but jobs, local value addition and exports lag behind. These gaps are exactly the Mains debates around the PLI model.
NITI Aayog: Role and Mandate
NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) is the Union government's main policy think tank. It replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015. It advises the Centre and the states, prepares long-term strategies and checks how well government schemes are working. Unlike the old Planning Commission, it does not give money to states.
Checking whether a scheme is delivering is one of NITI Aayog's core jobs. Its PLI assessment with IIM Ahmedabad gives the government evidence on what to fix, such as adding demand-side incentives and clearing sector-specific bottlenecks.
Make in India
Make in India is a Government of India programme, launched on 25 September 2014, to turn India into a global hub for manufacturing. It tries to attract Indian and foreign companies to set up factories in India, so that the country produces more, exports more and creates jobs. DPIIT is the nodal department.
The PLI schemes are one of the main ways the government is trying to meet Make in India's goals. The report's finding that jobs are only at 28% of target, and that firms still depend on imported high-value parts, shows the distance left to cover between assembling goods and truly making them in India.
- Assessment by: NITI Aayog with IIM Ahmedabad; data up to March 2026
- Number of PLI schemes/sectors: 14
- Cumulative investment: about ₹2.40 lakh crore (76% of full-tenure target)
- Production/sales: about ₹22.66 lakh crore (64% of target)
- Employment: about 8.49 lakh, about 28% of the 30.18 lakh target
- Combined outlay: ₹1.91 lakh crore; incentives disbursed: ₹35,354 crore (18.51%) up to March 2026
- About 70% of targeted segments broadly on track
- White goods domestic value addition: about 20% to 55%
- Strong performers: electronics, telecom, pharmaceutical drugs
- NITI Aayog set up: 1 January 2015; Make in India launched: 25 September 2014