The government is willing to look at the Phased Manufacturing Plan (PMP) for the AC industry to check imports and increase local value addition and employment, said industry secretary Anurag Jain.

At an event organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Ficci, he also said the government is fast-tracking foreign direct investment (FDI) applications under Press Note 3, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.

Through this, India had made prior approval mandatory for foreign investments from countries that share land border with it to curb opportunistic takeovers of domestic firms following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The countries which share land borders with India are China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

As per the statement, the DPIIT will ensure all investments coming up under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for white goods get approvals from the central and state government authorities on fast track so that targets set under the scheme are achieved timely.

Six applicants proposing FDI from countries sharing land border with India have been advised to submit approval in terms of Press Note 3 for consideration of approval under the PLI scheme.

Four applicants were referred to the Committee of Experts for examination and its recommendations. “Jain also said that they were in the process of fast tracking the National Single Window Clearance System aimed at ease of doing business where all applications can be filed and tracked online,” the ministry said. For the white goods PLI scheme, 10 units are set to be located in Gujarat, six each in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, and five each in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The government has provisionally selected 42 applicants with committed investment of Rs 4,614 crore as beneficiaries under the PLI scheme.