PLI-Auto draws ₹44,326 crore investment, creates 67,820 jobs: Minister
Synopsis
India's PLI-Auto scheme has pulled in ₹44,326 crore in investment and 67,820 jobs by March 2026 — but only ₹2,386 crore of the ₹25,938 crore outlay has been disbursed so far. Meanwhile, the ACC Battery Storage PLI has attracted ₹5,180 crore in investment yet recorded zero incentive claims, raising questions about whether production targets are being met.
Key Takeaways
PLI-Auto has attracted ₹44,326 crore in investment and generated 67,820 direct jobs as of March 2026 .
Incentive disbursements under PLI-Auto stand at ₹2,386.36 crore against an approved outlay of ₹25,938 crore .
225 manufacturing units are operational under PLI-Auto; Maharashtra leads with 66 units .
The ACC Battery Storage PLI (outlay: ₹18,100 crore ) has seen no incentive claims despite ₹5,180 crore in reported investment.
Across all 14 PLI sectors , investments exceed ₹2.40 lakh crore , with exports rising to ₹15.2 lakh crore in FY26 .
The Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Automobile and Auto Component Industry (PLI-Auto) has attracted ₹44,326 crore in investments and generated 67,820 direct jobs as of March 2026, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday, 21 July 2025. The figures, disclosed in the Lok Sabha, underscore the scheme's growing footprint across India's automotive manufacturing sector.
Incentive Disbursements and Scheme Outlay
Minister of State for Heavy Industries Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma told the Lok Sabha that incentive disbursements under PLI-Auto have reached ₹2,386.36 crore up to 31 March 2026. The scheme was originally approved on 23 September 2021 with a total budgetary outlay of ₹25,938 crore, aimed at strengthening India's manufacturing capabilities for Advanced Automotive Technology (AAT) products. PLI-Auto is a pan-India scheme, allowing approved applicants to establish production units anywhere across the country.
State-Wise Manufacturing Units
A total of 225 manufacturing units have been set up under PLI-Auto across all states and union territories. Maharashtra leads the tally with 66 units, followed by Tamil Nadu with 38, Haryana with 35, Karnataka with 28, and Uttar Pradesh with 13. The geographic spread reflects the scheme's pan-India design intent, though manufacturing activity remains concentrated in established auto-belt states.
ACC Battery Storage Scheme Sees No Incentive Claims Yet
The PLI scheme for National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage, approved in May 2021 with an outlay of ₹18,100 crore for 50 GWh of capacity, has so far seen no incentive claims from any beneficiary firm, according to the minister. However, the scheme has reportedly attracted an investment of ₹5,180 crore and created 1,277 direct jobs, as declared by participating firms. The absence of incentive claims suggests production milestones required for disbursement have yet to be met.
Broader PLI Impact Across 14 Sectors
Zooming out, the government's wider PLI programme — spanning 14 key sectors — has attracted actual investments exceeding ₹2.40 lakh crore, generated over 14.15 lakh direct and indirect jobs, and enabled exports worth ₹15.2 lakh crore. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada noted that the schemes were launched with an approved financial outlay of ₹1.91 lakh crore. Exports under the PLI programme have risen sharply — from ₹4 lakh crore in FY24 to ₹6.5 lakh crore in FY25, and further to ₹15.2 lakh crore in FY26.
What This Signals for India's Auto Sector
This comes amid India's broader push to position itself as a global automotive manufacturing hub, with electric vehicles and advanced components at the centre of that ambition. Notably, the gap between PLI-Auto's ₹25,938 crore approved outlay and the ₹2,386 crore disbursed so far indicates that the bulk of incentive payouts are still to flow — contingent on sustained production performance by beneficiary firms. Industry observers will watch whether investment momentum translates into proportionate job creation and export growth in the coming financial year.
Point of View
But the disbursement gap tells a more cautious story — only ₹2,386 crore of a ₹25,938 crore outlay has actually flowed out, meaning the scheme's real stress-test is still ahead. The ACC Battery Storage PLI is a sharper concern: ₹5,180 crore invested, 1,277 jobs created, and yet not a single incentive claim filed — suggesting beneficiary firms have not hit the production thresholds that trigger payouts. For a scheme designed to anchor India's EV supply chain, that is a meaningful lag. The broader 14-sector PLI export surge from ₹4 lakh crore in FY24 to ₹15.2 lakh crore in FY26 is the headline that will travel — but policymakers should be cautious about conflating export growth with scheme causality until attribution is independently verified.
NationPress
22 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
How much investment has the PLI-Auto scheme attracted?
The PLI-Auto scheme has attracted ₹44,326 crore in investment and generated 67,820 direct jobs as of March 2026, according to the government's statement in the Lok Sabha on 21 July 2025.
What is the total outlay and disbursement under PLI-Auto?
The scheme was approved with a budgetary outlay of ₹25,938 crore . Actual incentive disbursements have reached ₹2,386.36 crore up to 31 March 2026, indicating a significant portion of payouts is still pending production-linked milestones.
Why has no incentive been claimed under the ACC Battery Storage PLI?
No beneficiary firm has yet claimed any incentive under the PLI for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage, despite reported investments of ₹5,180 crore and 1,277 jobs. This suggests firms have not yet met the production milestones required to trigger disbursements under the ₹18,100 crore scheme.
Which states have the most manufacturing units under PLI-Auto?
Maharashtra leads with 66 units , followed by Tamil Nadu (38), Haryana (35), Karnataka (28), and Uttar Pradesh (13), out of a total of 225 units across all states and union territories.
What is the overall impact of PLI schemes across all 14 sectors?
Across 14 sectors, PLI schemes have attracted over ₹2.40 lakh crore in actual investments, created more than 14.15 lakh direct and indirect jobs, and enabled exports worth ₹15.2 lakh crore in FY26 — up from ₹4 lakh crore in FY24.
