The right incentive

The Union government’s idea to provide fiscal incentives for increasing manufacturing and strengthening the industrial base seems to have run into problems, as many commentators had feared. As reported by this newspaper on Monday, the government is planning to hold a first-of-its-kind meeting later this month to address implementation issues being faced by producers under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. The meeting is expected to be attended by all 14 ministries involved in the implementation of the scheme, along with key beneficiaries. The scheme seems to have multiple issues. Already, a senior government official has indicated that a course correction is likely in a few sectors covered by the scheme. In the case of the auto industry, for example, firms