Fillip to electronics sector
While the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme was launched in 2020 with an objective to incentivise large-scale private investments in different sectors of the economy, it gained significant traction in the mobile phone segment, with the country’s mobile phone exports exceeding ₹25,000 crore. Given the fact that value addition across sectors was low even in segments where the PLI scheme was faring well, the Centre is reported to have finalised the contours of a broader policy for electronic components manufacturing with a thrust on creating a larger and a robust domestic electronics ecosystem. No doubt, it is a welcome development. With countries now locked in tariff and trade wars and supply chains being re-jigged, India has a greater opportunity to seize the present moment to its advantage.
M Jeyaram
Sholavandan, TN
Confidence in MF segment
With reference to ‘MF investors aren’t panicking’ (March 18), the unperturbed growth in SIPs, in spite of heavy stock market turbulences presently, is noteworthy and reflects resilient investor behaviour.
The consistent regulatory monitoring, operational restrictions on AMCs, stress tests on quality of investment, professionalism of the fund manager in right asset allocation, etc., built up investor confidence in the MF segment, though some debt funds failed to discharge their return obligations earlier. As rightly pointed out, this impressive trend may discourage domestic institutions from force-selling and progressively may motivate foreign investors also to support further growth of the MF industry.
Sitaram Popuri
Bengaluru
Uplift of artisans
This is with reference to ‘Handholding artisans’ (March 18). Artisans are great assets of the country and the PM Vishwakarma scheme, though conceived with all good intentions to uplift their lives, has not made the desired impact due to lacunae in implementation and misconceptions about the scheme in the artisanal community.
Artisans appear to feel that training is a waste of their “time and energy” since they know their craft well, as they have been working on the same from a very young age. There is need to conduct awareness campaigns about the real intent of the scheme of not only imparting advanced skills of the identified crafts for skill-upgradation, but also to train the artisans in the knowledge of modern tools, marketing, digital and financial skills.
If the artisans get trained in these aspects, their transition to entrepreneurship would be smooth and fruitful. Further, government officials implementing the scheme need to be impartial and unbiased in selection of candidates and see that all eligible persons have an equal chance of getting selected for training.
Kosaraju Chandramouli
Hyderabad
