New Delhi: The government has shortlisted 33 companies that would be awarded benefits under the Rs 12,195-crore production-linked-incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom and networking equipment.

The scheme, which was notified on February 24, 2021, has received 36 applications, of which three are being rejected, according to a source. The winners - who would be notified soon-have committed Rs 3,455 crore as proposed investments.

Of the 'global companies that have applied, seven out of the eight applicants have made the cut and these are Taiwanese Foxconn (proposed investment Rs 208 crore), Rising Stars Hi-Tech (Rs 125 crore), Finnish Nokia Solutions (Rs 125 crore), American makers Flextronics (Rs 102 crore), Jabil Circuit (Rs 176 crore), CommScope (Rs 209 crore), and Sanmina-SCI (Rs 110 crore).

On the domestic side, 26 companies have made the cut, nine large ones, and 17 in the MSME category. The Indian companies include Akashastha Technologies (proposed investment Rs 593 crore), VVDN Technologies (Rs 400 crore), Neolync Tele Communications (Rs 188 crore), Dixon Electro Appliances (180 crores), ITI (Rs 120 crore), Tejas Networks (111 crores), GDN Enterprises (Rs 46 crore) and STL Networks (Rs 49 crore).

"In the certificate for global revenue, the company has also taken the revenue of 'Vedanta'.

Kenstel Networks, which has applied under MSME, has certified its revenues at Rs 6.4 crore, which is less than the stipulated Rs 10 crore threshold mandated for the category. The government had floated the scheme to encourage domestic manufacturing in the telecom sector, including core transmission equipment, 4G/5G next-generation Radio Access Network, loT access devices, and enterprise products such as switches and routers.

The government feels that with the transition to 5G and other futuristic technologies, India should have a robust, manufacturing eco-system.