New Delhi, Jun 3 (IANS): The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Thursday invited applications for the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom and networking equipment from June 4.

DoT announced the operational guidelines for the scheme and said that the application window will be open up to July 3.

As per the government, the scheme envisages to create global champions out of India who have the potential to grow in size and scale using cutting edge technology and thereby, penetrate the global value chains. Telecom products play an important role in the larger vision of "Digital India", said an official statement.

The PLI scheme will be implemented within the overall financial limits of Rs 12,195 crore only for implementation of the scheme over a period of five years.

The DoT statement said that for MSME category, the financial allocation will be Rs 1,000 crore.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has been appointed as the Project Management Agency for the PLI scheme.

The scheme will be effective from April 1, 2021. Investment made by successful applicants in India from April 1 onwards and up to Financial Year (FY) 2024-2025 shall be eligible, subject to qualifying incremental annual thresholds. The support under the scheme shall be provided for a period of five years, from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26.

The scheme is open to both MSME and non-MSME companies, including domestic and global companies. Also, manufacturers with products with Indian technology are encouraged to apply, it said.

Applicants will have to satisfy the minimum revenue criteria to be eligible under the scheme. The company may decide to invest in single or multiple eligible products.

The scheme stipulates a minimum investment threshold of Rs 10 crore for MSME and Rs 100 crore for non-MSME applicants. Land and building cost will not be counted as investment. Eligibility shall be further subject to incremental sales of manufactured goods (covered under scheme target segments) over the base year (FY2019-20).

The Department of Telecommunications shall grant approvals to 10 eligible applications each in MSME and non-MSME categories. Out of the 10 applications in non-MSME category, at least three applicants will be eligible domestic companies.

The applications will be shortlisted from highest to lowest on the basis of committed cumulative incremental investment during the scheme period.

It is estimated that full utilisation of the scheme funds is likely to lead to incremental production of around Rs 2.4 lakh crore with exports of around Rs 2 lakh crore over five years. It is also expected that the scheme will bring investment of around Rs 3,000 crore and generate huge direct and indirect employment.