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- Development 1: MeitY’s 17% Budget Cut and the PLI Underspending Signal
- Development 2: Auto PLI December 2025 Data, Rs 2,322 Crore Disbursed and the 77% Non-PLI EV Export Problem
- Development 3: ACC Battery PLI at 2.8% of Target and the Rajesh Exports SEBI Fraud Crisis
- Development 4: Textiles PLI Round III, 96 Companies and Rs 12,822.67 Crore Approved
- Development 5: DVA Violations, Companies Gaming Localisation Targets
- Development 6: The Overall Scheme at 892 Applications and Rs 2.4 Lakh Crore
- Frequently Asked Questions
Update 1MeitY’s 17% Budget Cut and the PLI Underspending Signal
The Finance Ministry reduced MeitY’s FY27 budget allocation from the ministry’s proposed Rs 28,169 crore to Rs 21,632 crore, a cut of approximately Rs 6,537 crore or nearly 17%. The Twenty-Fourth Report of the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, placed in Parliament in March 2026, attributed this reduction to two specific causes: lower expenditure in the first two quarters of FY26 under the PLI scheme and the India AI Mission, and the formal closure of the Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM) component of the PLI scheme on March 31, 2026.
The LSEM was the original mobile and electronics manufacturing component of the PLI scheme, which was among the first sectors notified in April 2020. Its closure after five years was expected, since PLI schemes are fixed-duration incentive programmes, not permanent policies. The problem the Standing Committee flagged was different: MeitY had failed to convince the Finance Ministry that its proposed expenditure levels were credible given past underspending. In FY25-26, MeitY’s revised estimate was significantly lower than its budget estimate, reflecting slippage in actual disbursements.
| MeitY Allocation | Amount (Rs Crore) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MeitY’s own FY27 proposal | Rs 28,169 Cr | Ministry’s budget ask |
| Finance Ministry’s FY27 sanction (BE) | Rs 21,632 Cr | 17% below proposal; Rs 6,537 crore cut |
| FY26 Budget Estimate | Rs 26,026 Cr | Previous year’s original allocation |
| Revenue cut vs FY26 BE | Rs 4,349 Cr lower | Per Standing Committee report |
| PLI for electronics (FY27 BE) | Rs 1,527 Cr | Down 83% from Rs 9,000 Cr in FY26 BE; reflects LSEM closure and PLI underspending |
| Semiconductor programme (FY27 BE) | Rs 8,000 Cr | Up from Rs 4,300 Cr in FY26 RE; 37% of MeitY’s total FY27 budget per PRS |
The budget cut has a direct consequence for the semiconductor PLI programme, which is in its most capital-intensive phase. The Tata-Powerchip fab in Gujarat (approved outlay Rs 91,000 crore), the Tata ATMP plant in Assam (Rs 27,000 crore), and the CG Power-Renesas OSAT facility (Rs 7,600 crore) are all in active development phases. Commercial chip production is expected to begin in late 2026, per MeitY Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. If expenditure discipline at the ministry level results in delayed disbursement to these projects, construction timelines could slip.
Update 2Auto PLI: What the December 2025 Data Shows and the 77% Non-PLI EV Export Problem
Where the Auto PLI Stands as of December 2025
The Auto PLI scheme’s performance period runs from FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28, following a one-year extension announced in August 2023 that shifted the original FY 2022-23 to FY 2026-27 window. The scheme’s total outlay is Rs 25,938 crore. As of December 31, 2025, cumulative investment reached Rs 35,657 crore, against the target estimate of Rs 42,500 crore over five years. Cumulative determined sales of Rs 32,879 crore have been recorded. A total of 48,974 jobs have been generated and cumulative incentive disbursement reached Rs 2,321.94 crore. For the performance year FY 2024-25 specifically, Rs 1,999.94 crore was disbursed to five approved applicants, a sharp increase from Rs 322 crore disbursed to four applicants in FY 2023-24.
As of January 2026, the scheme has provided incentives for 13.61 lakh electric vehicles comprising over 10.42 lakh electric two-wheelers, over 2.38 lakh three-wheelers, approximately 79,540 four-wheelers, and approximately 1,391 electric buses. The e-3W (L5) segment’s aggressive targets were met ahead of time, with 2.88 lakh units incentivised, and the Ministry of Heavy Industries closed incentivisation for that segment after December 26, 2025. EV penetration in the e-3W (L5) category is now estimated at 32%. A total of 95 companies have been approved under the scheme.
| Auto PLI Metric | FY 2023-24 | FY 2024-25 | Cumulative (Dec 31, 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incentive disbursed | Rs 322 Cr (4 companies) | Rs 1,999.94 Cr (5 companies) | Rs 2,321.94 Cr |
| EVs receiving incentives | 76,838 | 12,84,650 | 13,61,488 |
| Investment by applicants | Rs 10,755 Cr (Jun 2023) | – | Rs 35,657 Cr |
| Jobs created | – | – | 48,974 |
| Determined sales | – | – | Rs 32,879 Cr |
The 77% Non-PLI EV Export Finding
A report by the Centre for Development of Emerging Technologies and Policies (C-DEP) found that 77% of India’s electric two-wheeler exports were driven by models that were not PLI beneficiaries. The report concluded that the Auto PLI’s scale-based eligibility criteria, which required minimum investment thresholds and minimum annual sales targets, effectively excluded smaller EV startups, resulting in the scheme favouring large incumbents while newer, export-oriented players operated outside the PLI framework entirely.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Heavy Industries cited the C-DEP finding and recommended that the government review eligibility norms in the Auto PLI to ease thresholds and enable EV startups to participate. Ather Energy’s CEO Tarun Mehta publicly stated that proposed reforms to the scheme may ease eligibility thresholds. The government had not formally revised the eligibility norms as of June 2026.
Update 3ACC Battery PLI at 2.8% of Target: The Scheme That Has Barely Started
The PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) batteries, with a total outlay of Rs 18,100 crore, was designed to incentivise domestic battery cell manufacturing. The scheme’s capacity target was 50 GWh. As of October 2025, only 1.4 GWh of capacity had been commissioned within the stipulated timeline, entirely by Ola Electric. This represents 2.8% of the 50 GWh target. As of February 2026, zero incentives had been disbursed to any beneficiary under the scheme, per the IEEFA and JMK Research joint report published January 22, 2026.
The total capacity awarded under the scheme stands at 40 GWh across four beneficiary companies. In the first bidding round held in March 2022, three firms were awarded 30 GWh collectively: Ola Electric (20 GWh), Reliance New Energy, and Rajesh Exports. Hyundai Global Motor had originally been awarded 20 GWh in the first round but subsequently pulled out of its allocation. This prompted MHI to re-tender 10 GWh in a second auction, with Reliance New Energy winning 10 GWh in that round. Ola Electric plans to commission 5 GWh of its 20 GWh allocation by March 2026 but has scaled back its broader expansion and deferred the remaining capacity to FY 2028-29. Reliance New Energy is the only beneficiary that has indicated it will commission its second-round capacity of 10 GWh on time, per the JMK Research and IEEFA report.
| ACC Battery PLI Metric | Target | Actual (Oct 2025) | Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total capacity target | 50 GWh | 1.4 GWh commissioned | 2.8% |
| Total capacity awarded | 50 GWh | 40 GWh awarded to 4 companies | 80% awarded |
| Investment by beneficiaries | Rs 11,184 Cr (expected) | Rs 2,878 Cr invested | 25.6% of target |
| Jobs created | 10.3 lakh (target) | 1,118 jobs | 0.12% of target |
| Incentives disbursed | Rs 29 Bn (Rs 2,900 Cr) | Zero (as of Feb 2026) | 0% |
| FY26 revised allocation spend | Rs 155.76 Cr (BE) | Rs 13.31 Cr (RE) | 8.5% of allocation |
| FY27 budget allocation | Rs 155.76 Cr (FY26 level) | Rs 86 Cr (cut 44.5%) | Reflects zero commissioning |
Battery cell manufacturing is technically and capital-intensive. The barriers that have slowed the ACC PLI are structural: electrolyser and cell manufacturing equipment must largely be imported from Japan, South Korea, and China; qualified process engineers are scarce; the supply chain for cathode active materials does not exist at scale in India; and the economics of ACC manufacturing improve significantly only above 5 to 10 GWh of annual capacity at a single plant. These are not problems that a PLI incentive alone resolves.
Breaking: Rajesh Exports Faces Removal Over SEBI Fraud Findings
On June 3, 2026, SEBI issued a 109-page ex-parte interim order alleging that Rajesh Exports, one of the four ACC battery PLI beneficiaries named above, had overstated revenues by Rs 15.15 lakh crore between FY21 and FY25, amounting to nearly 99.8% of the revenues reported by its subsidiaries during that period being materially misrepresented. SEBI also flagged alleged fund diversion and opaque related-party transactions involving two entities directly tied to the company’s battery business: Elest Private Limited and ACC Energy Storage Private Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary Rajesh Exports incorporated specifically to execute its ACC battery PLI allocation.
Following the SEBI order, the Ministry of Heavy Industries began reviewing whether Rajesh Exports should be removed from the ACC battery PLI scheme altogether. Government sources told PTI there was a “strong view” within the ministry favouring exclusion, with a final decision expected to be placed before Minister of Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy. Rajesh Exports issued a clarification to stock exchanges refuting SEBI’s allegations point by point. As of June 2026, the ministry’s final decision on removal was still pending.
Update 4Textiles PLI Round III: 96 Companies Approved, Rs 12,822.67 Crore Committed
On June 10, 2026, the central government approved 96 companies under the third round of the Rs 10,683 crore PLI scheme for textiles, with a total committed investment of Rs 12,822.67 crore and a projected turnover of Rs 58,294.18 crore. The approved applicants span the scheme’s three focus segments: Man-Made Fibre (MMF) Apparel, MMF Fabrics, and Technical Textiles. This Round III approval is significantly larger than the 22-company tranche approved earlier in the year, and reflects strong investor response after the government reopened and extended the application window, most recently to March 31, 2026, following the portal’s reopening in August 2025.
The PLI Scheme for Textiles was originally notified on September 24, 2021, with the objective of promoting MMF apparel, MMF fabrics, and technical textiles production to help the industry achieve scale, become globally competitive, and create employment. The scheme has now gone through multiple application rounds since 2021, with Round III being the largest single approval tranche to date.
Update 5DVA Violations: Companies Gaming Localisation Targets
The government began reviewing Domestic Value Addition (DVA) violations across PLI schemes in the first half of 2026. Multiple companies across different PLI sectors were found struggling with localisation targets, with some flagged for understating import content or inflating domestic value addition in their claim submissions. The review was triggered by concerns that the DVA certification process, which relies primarily on company self-declaration verified by government-approved testing agencies, was being gamed by beneficiaries seeking to qualify for incentives without meeting the genuine localisation thresholds.
The DVA requirement is central to the PLI scheme’s industrial policy logic. The incentive is not simply a subsidy for production. It is a subsidy for production that demonstrably deepens India’s domestic manufacturing value chain. A company that assembles imported sub-components and claims the resulting product as domestic production is receiving an incentive for activity that does not achieve the scheme’s stated objective of import substitution. The Auto PLI’s minimum 50% DVA requirement, the electronics PLI’s domestic content conditions, and other sector-specific localisation thresholds are all designed to prevent this arbitrage.
The C-DEP finding that 77% of India’s EV two-wheeler exports came from non-PLI companies is the most visible evidence of a broader problem. If DVA thresholds are set at levels that genuine domestic manufacturers struggle to meet, but are being met on paper by companies using creative accounting of local content, the scheme both excludes legitimate players and subsidises questionable ones. The government’s decision to increase the number of DVA certification agencies from two to four under the Auto PLI is a partial response to this problem, as more testing agencies create competitive pressure on certification quality and reduce bottlenecks. A more comprehensive response would require stricter audit protocols for DVA claims across all 14 PLI sectors.
Update 6The Overall Scheme: 892 Applications and Rs 2.4 Lakh Crore by March 2026
Data obtained by Business Today through a Right to Information request, published June 11, 2026, showed that 892 applications had been approved under the PLI scheme as of March 2026, up from 836 applications as of December 31, 2025. Cumulative investment reached Rs 2.4 lakh crore by the end of FY26, up from Rs 2.16 lakh crore as of December 31, 2025. The scheme had generated production and sales worth Rs 22.66 lakh crore and contributed Rs 14.15 lakh crore in value addition by the end of FY26. The RTI data identified solar PV modules, pharmaceutical drugs, and automobiles and auto components as the sectors recording the highest investment inflows in this period.
What These Six Developments Tell You About the PLI Scheme’s Direction
Taken together, the six developments since our earlier analysis paint a picture of a scheme that is working well in its strongest sectors, correcting course in its problem sectors, and facing real accountability pressure for the first time. The budget cut to MeitY is the most consequential signal: when the Finance Ministry reduces allocations because of underspending, it creates pressure on both the ministry and beneficiaries to demonstrate genuine production performance. That is the scheme’s intended discipline.
The Auto PLI’s sixteen-fold jump in incentivised EVs, the textiles Round III approval of 96 companies, and the DVA certification expansion are all signs of a scheme gaining real traction in its functioning segments. These are the actions of a government managing a live, complex industrial policy, not abandoning it.
The ACC battery PLI at 2.8% of target, now compounded by a SEBI fraud order against one of its four beneficiaries, is the one area where the corrective action needed goes beyond the PLI mechanism itself. Battery cell manufacturing requires technology partnerships, supply chain development, and workforce training that cannot be incentivised into existence by a percentage-of-sales payment, and a beneficiary facing allegations of overstating revenues by Rs 15.15 lakh crore raises governance questions that a production incentive scheme was never designed to police. Whether the government tightens beneficiary screening across all 14 sectors in response is the open question.
The Finance Ministry reduced MeitY’s FY27 allocation from the proposed Rs 28,169 crore to Rs 21,632 crore, a reduction of approximately Rs 6,537 crore or 17%. The Twenty-Fourth Report of the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, placed in Parliament in March 2026, identified two causes: lower expenditure in the first two quarters of FY26 under the PLI scheme and India AI Mission, and the closure of the Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM) component of the PLI scheme on March 31, 2026. MeitY acknowledged in its own submission to the committee that expenditure had been lower because of underspending under the Modified Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing and the PLI schemes. The reduction signals that the Finance Ministry is applying credible commitment discipline to PLI allocations: ministries that cannot spend what they are allocated will receive less in the next cycle.
The Auto PLI scheme has a total outlay of Rs 25,938 crore and covers a performance period of FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28, after a one-year extension announced in August 2023 shifted the original FY 2022-23 to FY 2026-27 window. As of December 31, 2025, cumulative investment by applicants reached Rs 35,657 crore against the target of Rs 42,500 crore. Cumulative incentive disbursement was Rs 2,321.94 crore. For FY 2024-25, Rs 1,999.94 crore was disbursed to five approved applicants, up sharply from Rs 322 crore in FY 2023-24. Total EVs receiving incentives: 13.61 lakh (10.42 lakh two-wheelers, 2.38 lakh three-wheelers, 79,540 four-wheelers, 1,391 buses). Jobs created: 48,974. Determined sales: Rs 32,879 crore. The e-3W (L5) segment’s targets were met ahead of schedule at 2.88 lakh units and that segment was closed to further incentivisation after December 26, 2025. 95 companies are approved under the scheme. The C-DEP report found that 77% of India’s electric two-wheeler exports were driven by non-PLI models, highlighting an eligibility design gap.
The Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery PLI scheme was launched in October 2021 with a total outlay of Rs 18,100 crore and a capacity target of 50 GWh of domestic battery cell manufacturing. As of October 2025, only 1.4 GWh of capacity (2.8% of the 50 GWh target) had been commissioned within the stipulated timeline, entirely by Ola Electric, per the JMK Research and IEEFA joint report published January 22, 2026. As of February 2026, zero incentives had been disbursed to any beneficiary. Investment by beneficiaries reached Rs 2,878 crore (25.6% of the Rs 11,184 crore target). Jobs created: 1,118 against a target of 10.3 lakh (0.12% of target). The total capacity awarded is 40 GWh across four beneficiaries. In the first bidding round (March 2022), Ola Electric (20 GWh), Reliance New Energy, and Rajesh Exports were awarded 30 GWh collectively. Hyundai Global Motor pulled out of its 20 GWh allocation from the first tender, prompting MHI to re-tender 10 GWh in a second auction which Reliance New Energy won. Ola Electric has scaled back its plans and now aims to commission only 5 GWh by March 2026, deferring the remaining capacity to FY 2028-29. Reliance New Energy is the only beneficiary indicating on-time commissioning of its second-round 10 GWh. Union Budget 2026-27 cut the ACC PLI’s FY27 allocation by 44.5% from Rs 155.76 crore to Rs 86 crore. The FY26 revised estimate was just Rs 13.31 crore, reflecting near-zero disbursement activity.
On June 3, 2026, SEBI issued a 109-page ex-parte interim order alleging that Rajesh Exports, a Bengaluru-based gold jewellery manufacturer and one of the four ACC battery PLI beneficiaries, had overstated revenues by Rs 15.15 lakh crore between FY21 and FY25, with nearly 99.8% of the revenues reported by its subsidiaries during that period found to be materially misrepresented. SEBI also flagged alleged fund diversion and opaque related-party transactions involving Elest Private Limited and ACC Energy Storage Private Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary Rajesh Exports created specifically to execute its ACC battery PLI allocation. Following the order, the Ministry of Heavy Industries began examining whether to remove Rajesh Exports from the PLI scheme, with government sources telling PTI there was a “strong view” within the ministry favouring exclusion. The matter was expected to be placed before Minister H D Kumaraswamy for a final decision. Rajesh Exports issued a formal clarification to stock exchanges refuting SEBI’s allegations. As of June 2026, no final decision on removal had been announced.
According to data obtained by Business Today through a Right to Information request and published June 11, 2026, 892 applications had been approved under the PLI scheme as of March 2026, up from 836 applications as of December 31, 2025. Cumulative investment reached Rs 2.4 lakh crore by the end of FY26, up from Rs 2.16 lakh crore as of December 31, 2025. The scheme generated production and sales worth Rs 22.66 lakh crore and contributed Rs 14.15 lakh crore in value addition by the end of FY26. Solar PV modules, pharmaceutical drugs, and automobiles and auto components recorded the highest investment inflows. These figures are incremental to the December 31, 2025 Commerce Ministry data covered in our original analysis (836 applications, Rs 2.16 lakh crore investment, Rs 20.41 lakh crore sales, Rs 8.3 lakh crore exports, 14.39 lakh jobs, Rs 28,748 crore disbursed), showing the scheme added 56 new approved applications and approximately Rs 24,000 crore of fresh investment in the first quarter of calendar year 2026.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is current as of June 2026. Nothing in this article constitutes investment advice. fiscalzenith.com accepts no liability for decisions made in reliance on this article.




