PIB Summary- 8th September, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles

Details

• The government has approved the PLI Scheme for Textiles for MMF Apparel, MMF Fabrics and 10 segments/products of Technical Textiles with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 10,683 crore.
• PLI for Textiles along with RoSCTL, RoDTEP and other measures of the Government in sector e.g. providing raw material at competitive prices, skill development, etc. will herald a new age in textiles manufacturing, according to the PIB statement.

Production Linked Incentive or PLI scheme is a scheme that aims to give companies incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in domestic units. The scheme invites foreign companies to set up units in India, however, it also aims to encourage local companies to set up or expand existing manufacturing units and also to generate more employment and cut down the country’s reliance on imports from other countries.
It was launched in April 2020, for the Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing sector, but later towards the end of 2020 was introduced for 10 other sectors. This scheme was introduced in line with India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign.

PLI Scheme – A Brief Background

• It was introduced as a part of the National Policy on Electronics by the IT Ministry to give incentives of 4-6% to electronic companies, manufacturing electronic components like mobile phones, transistors, diodes, etc. 
• The main aim of this scheme was to invite foreign investors to set up their manufacturing units in India and also promote the local manufacturers to expand their units and generate employment
• The first sector which the PLI scheme had targeted was the Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing in April 2020, and by the end of the year (November 2020), 10 more sectors including food processing, telecom, electronics, textiles, speciality steel, automobiles and auto components, solar photovoltaic modules and white goods such as air conditioners and LEDs were also expanded under the PLI scheme
• As far as the eligibility is concerned, all electronic manufacturing companies which are either Indian or have a registered unit in India will be eligible to apply for the scheme
• In the Union Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned the inclusion of thirteen more sectors under the PLI Scheme for a period of five years and Rs. 1.97 lakh crores have been allocated for this scheme from Financial Year 2022

Expansion of Production Linked Incentive Scheme

Based on the ten sectors to which the Production Linked Incentive scheme was expanded to, the government aims at achieving the following targets:

• The government aims to make India an integral part of the global supply chain and enhance exports
• India is expected to have a USD 1 trillion digital economy by 2025 as it expects the demand for electronics to increase under its projects like Smart City and Digital India
• The PLI scheme will make the Indian automotive Industry more competitive and will enhance the globalisation of the Indian automotive sector
• The Indian Textile Industry is one of the largest in the world and with this scheme, it shall attract large investment in the sector to further boost domestic manufacturing, especially in the manmade fibre (MMF) segment and technical textiles
• India, being the second-largest producer of steel in the world, introducing it under the PLI scheme will benefit the country as it may expand export opportunities
• Similarly, telecom, solar panels, pharmaceuticals, white goods, and all the other sectors introduced can contribute to the economic growth of the country and make India a manufacturing hub globally

Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing

• The first phase of the PLI scheme was dedicated to the Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing sector and the scheme proposed to increase the manufacturing of mobile phones in India along with setting up their Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units
• The total cost proposed for the scheme was INR 40,995 crore
• It was set up to benefit a few global investors and mainly the domestic manufacturers in India
• With high potential for employment generation, the scheme can help employee over 2 lakh people in 5 years in the electronics manufacturing sector
• Till date, in the case of electronics, the assembling of objects was done in India, while the production was done outside. With the PLI scheme and Make in India campaign, the electronics can be made ad assembled in the domestic industries itself
• The production of mobile phones in the country has gone up significantly from around INR 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to INR 1,70,000 crore in 2018-19 and the domestic demand is almost completely being met out of domestic production. With PLI, this can be increased even further

The table given below shows the financial outlay as per the first phase of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme:

Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Pharmaceuticals

• PLI scheme for Pharmaceuticals was introduced for a period of five years between FY 2020-21 to 2028-29. Total incremental sales of Rs.2,94,000 crore and total incremental exports of Rs.1,96,000 crore are estimated during six years from 2022-23 to 2027-28
• The scheme is expected to generate employment for both skilled and unskilled personnel, estimated at 20,000 direct and 80,000 indirect jobs as a result of growth in the sector
• The duration of the scheme will be from FY 2020-21 to FY 2028-29. This will include the period for processing of applications (FY 2020-21), an optional gestation period of one year (FY 2021-22), an incentive for 6 years and FY 2028-29 for disbursal of incentive for sales of FY 2027-28

About the PLI Scheme for Textile Sector

• PLI scheme for Textiles is part of the overall announcement of PLI Schemes for 13 sectors made earlier during the Union Budget 2021-22.
• Benefits:
  • The PLI scheme for Textiles will promote the production of high value MMF Fabric, Garments and Technical Textiles in India.
  • The incentive structure has been so formulated that the industry will be encouraged to invest in fresh capacities in these segments.
  • This will give a major push to the growing high value MMF segment which will complement the efforts of cotton and other natural fibre-based textiles industry in generating new opportunities for employment and trade.
  • It is estimated that over the period of five years, the Scheme will lead to fresh investments of more than Rs.19,000 crore, a cumulative turnover of over Rs.3 lakh crore will be achieved under this scheme and, this will create additional employment opportunities of more than 7.5 lakh jobs in this sector and several lakhs more for supporting activities.
• Features of the scheme:
  • There are two types of investment possible with different sets of incentive structure.
    • Any person or company willing to invest minimum ₹300 Crore in Plant, Machinery, Equipment and Civil Works (excluding land and administrative building cost) to produce products of notified lines (MMF Fabrics, Garment) and products of Technical Textiles, shall be eligible to apply for participation in the first part of the scheme.
    • In the second part any person or company willing to invest minimum ₹100 Crore shall be eligible to apply for participation in this part of the scheme.
• Priority will be given for investment in Aspirational Districts, Tier 3, Tier 4 towns, and rural areas and due to this priority, the industry is expected to be incentivized to move to backward areas.

Technical Textiles

• The Technical Textiles segment is a new age textile, whose application in several sectors of economy, including infrastructure, water, health and hygiene, defense, security, automobiles, aviation, etc. will improve the efficiencies in those sectors of economy.
• The government has approved the creation of the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) for four years (FY 2020-21 to 2023-24). Know more about the mission and technical textiles in the link given.

C-295MW for Indian Air Force

Details

• Sixteen aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition from Spain within 48 months of signing of the contract and forty aircraft will be manufactured in India by TATA Consortium within ten years of signing of the contract.
• This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company.
• The project will give a boost to the aerospace ecosystem in India wherein several MSMEs spread across the country will be involved in manufacturing parts of the aircraft.
• All the 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite.
• Apart from giving a boost to ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in the defence sector, the programme will also generate 600 highly skilled jobs directly, over 3000 indirect jobs and an additional 3000 medium skill employment opportunities.

About C-295MW

• C-295MW aircraft is a transport aircraft of 5-10 Tonne capacity with contemporary technology.
• The aircraft has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo.
• This will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of IAF.

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharata Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)

Details

• Under the campaign, a three day certification drive for rural citizens, especially women and disadvantaged communities, will be conducted for a few days in September 2021.
• The drive has been launched under the PMGDISHA Scheme, the flagship digital literacy programme of GOI.
• Apart from this, Common Service Centres (CSC) also proposed to make all the Digital Villages 100 percent Digital Literate.

Naga peace process

Details

• More than 200 cadres of this group along with 83 weapons joined the peace process.
• The Government of India has already signed a Framework Agreement with NSCN(IM) and Ceasefire Agreements with other Naga groups namely, NSCN(NK), NSCN(R) and NSCN(K)-Khango.

Who are the Nagas?

The Nagas are a hill people belonging to the Indo-Mongoloid family. The Nagas are not a single tribe but an ethnic community who live in the state of Nagaland and its neighbourhood.

Insurgency

Insurgency has been defined as a protracted struggle conducted methodically, step by step, in order to attain specific intermediate objectives leading finally to the overthrow of the existing order. Differences in language, religion and ethnicity often act as motivating factors for the insurgents.

Naga Movement Timeline

Pre-independence phase

• The Naga Hills became part of British India in 1881.
• In 1918, the Naga Club was formed to bring unity among the Naga tribes.
• Since 1929, the Naga club has advocated for complete autonomy for the Nagas and had also petitioned the Simon Commission in 1929 to leave the Naga inhabited territories alone and not to club it with the larger Indian Territory.
• The Naga club metamorphosed into the Naga National Council (NNC) in 1946. Under the leadership of Angami Zapu Phizo, the NNC declared Nagaland as an independent State on August 14, 1947, and conducted a referendum in May 1951 to claim support for a “sovereign Nagaland”.
• In June 1947, Assam Governor Sir Akbar Hydari signed the Nine-Point Agreement with the moderates in the NNC but Phizo rejected it outright.

Post-independence Phase

• In March 1952, Phizo formed the underground Naga Federal Government (NFG) and the Naga Federal Army.
• The government of India sent in the Army to crush the insurgency and, in 1958, enacted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
• A 16-point Agreement with the Naga People’s Convention (moderate faction) followed in July 1960 leading to the creation of Nagaland in December 1963.
• In April 1964, a Peace Mission was formed for an agreement on suspension of operations with the NNC, but it was abandoned in 1967 after six rounds of talks.
• The Shillong Accord of 1975 followed, under which a section of NNC and NFG agreed to give up arms. A group of 140 members led by Mr. Muivah, who was in China then, refused to accept the Shillong Accord and formed the NSCN in 1980. The outfit split in 1988 with one faction led by Mr. Muivah and the other by the Myanmar-based Khaplang.
• The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) (NSCN-IM) — one of the largest Naga groups – signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in 1997.

Latest Developments

• A framework agreement was signed in 2015. Also known as the Nagaland Peace Accord, it was signed between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), to end the insurgency in the state of Nagaland.
• An agreement on the political parameters of the settlement was worked out with the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), in 2017.
• The peace talks between the Government of India and the NSCN-IM could not yield a peace agreement by October 31 2019, the government’s deadline for concluding an accord. The negotiations seemed to have reached a stalemate.

Naga Insurgency – Concerns

Defying a lasting solution

• Rooted in the politics of sub-nationalism, complexities of regional geopolitics and the evolving dynamics of counterinsurgency tactics, the Naga insurgency has defied a lasting solution.
• The much-touted peace accord is yet to be achieved, despite the Centre’s push to have had it concluded by 2019.
• The Naga insurgency has evolved into a complex problem with political, social and economic ramifications.

Suffering for the general populace

• The Naga insurgency has seen violent splits, ugly divisive tribalism, fratricidal feuds and untold sufferings for the general populace.

Law and order situation

• The law and order is a major area of concern in the state with armed gangs who question the sovereignty and integrity of the nation wielding considerable influence.

Culture of extortion

• The armed gangs have been engaging in extortion and siphoning off funds meant for development work. These illegal collections by armed groups have been an issue for several years.
• The organised armed gangs run their own parallel ‘tax collection’ regimes. Extortions in the name of taxes have been a thorny facet of the Naga issue.

External support factor

• India’s adversaries (China and Pakistan) have provided the Naga insurgents with vital external support at one point in time and this threat of external aid amounts to a major challenge to India’s internal security.

Impediments to Peace settlement
Non-negotiable aspects for India

• Recognition of Naga sovereignty, integration of all Naga-speaking areas into a greater Nagaland, a separate constitution and a separate flag are demands that the Indian Government may find difficult to fulfil.
• The Indian Government is willing to allow for regional autonomy within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
• Non-flexibility of the NSCN-IM on the issue of a separate Naga national flag and Naga Yezhabo (constitution) have delayed the peace settlement.

Internal divisions among Naga groups

• Internal divisions in the Naga society threatens to delay a final agreement. While the NNPGs want a solution for Nagas within Nagaland, the NSCN-IM seeks integration of Naga-inhabited areas beyond the geographical boundary of Nagaland.
• Also, other Naga groups namely the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) have already promised a settlement with or without the NSCN (IM).

Distrust

• Realising that the NSCN (IM) cannot be the sole representative of the Nagas, in 2017 other Naga underground factions were also brought to the negotiating table, lowering the prestige of the NSCN (IM).
• Today there are seven of these factions under an umbrella organisation, the Naga National Political Groups (NNPG), taking part in the negotiations.
• The Central government’s move to bring in other Naga armed groups on board the peace talks, though well-intentioned, had a negative effect on the process. It bred suspicion about Delhi exploiting divisions within the Nagas on tribal and geopolitical lines.

Speculation

• Speculation among the Naga society is high that the Central government may renege on the principles of “shared sovereignty” for co-existing as two separate identities, as was stated in the framework agreement. This has been fuelled by the nationalism driven policies of the Centre like the abrogation of Article 370 and the call for “one nation, one constitution”.

Opposition by neighbouring states

• The demands for greater Nagaland or Nagalim from the NSCN-IM is bound to lead to a redrawing of the state boundaries in the northeast. The territorial integrity of the neighbouring states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur are bound to be affected and hence they are wary of a peace settlement. Manipur has issued a strong statement against any move which would compromise its territorial integrity.
• ‘Greater Nagaland’ or Nagalim — includes apart from the present-day state of Nagaland, other Naga-dominated areas in neighbouring Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Myanmar.

Latest irritant

• A letter written by the Governor to the CM of Nagaland has become the latest irritant between the NSCN-IM and the government. The Governor had expressed anguish over the culture of extortion and the collapse of the general law and order situation in Nagaland.
• In its response, the insurgent National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) had said the group was only engaged in collecting taxes and called for the removal of the interlocutor from further negotiations.

Naga Issue – Way forward

Acknowledging the potential of a peace agreement

• To find a solution to the decades-old Naga issue is in the interest of both the Nagas as well as the Centre. It will help India address a decades-old security issue on the one hand while it will bring in the much-needed growth in the region to the benefit of the Nagas.
• The unresolved contentious issues must be pursued earnestly post a peace settlement, politically and democratically.

Involving all stakeholders

• The centre must negotiate with all factions and groups of Naga insurgents to have long-lasting peace.

Finding middle ground

• Both sides should try to end the current stalemate and find a middle ground so that talks do not collapse.
• Both sides should acknowledge the fact that most of the armed insurgencies across the world do not end in either total victory or comprehensive defeat, but in a grey zone called compromise.
• The geo-political situation demands the Nagas to be pragmatic and realistic in their negotiations with the Government of India. There is scope for regional autonomy as per the Indian Constitution. The principles of “shared sovereignty” for co-existing as two separate identities is possible under the Indian Constitution. But there is no scope for secessionism.
• Demands of NSCN-IM have toned down from complete sovereignty to greater autonomous region within the Indian constitutional framework with due regard to the uniqueness of Naga history and traditions. This must be considered by the Indian Government. The peace accord must safeguard the Naga’s right to self-determination. There should be maximum decentralization of powers to the tribal heads and minimum centralization at the apex level, which should mainly work towards facilitating governance and undertaking large developmental projects.
• However, given the fact that the peace settlement would lead to counter-movements from other groups in the region, there is the need for a well-deliberated agreement considering the views of all stakeholders.

Tackling the factions not taking part in the negotiations

• While the Indian Government continues to negotiate with the major factions, it should also be open to tackling groups which are not taking part in the ongoing negotiations. This could involve extensive area domination, selective intelligence-based targeting of the leadership and overground workers’ support network. This should be done in collaboration with Myanmar’s army.
• This would force the insurgents to the negotiating table.

Nagaland centred truce

• The willingness of the NNPG, most of whose leaders are Nagaland-based, to keep in abeyance demands such as a Greater Nagaland, in exchange for enhanced autonomy is a strong indication of the shift in demands. A Nagaland-centred truce looks like the most possible solution to the issue.
• Greater autonomy for the Naga inhabited areas in the neighbouring states can be provided which could encompass separate budget allocations for these areas with regard to their culture and developmental issues.
• This looks the most likely way out of the Naga conundrum.