India's PLI Scheme Is Reshaping Global PCB Manufacturing Investment

India’s PCB Manufacturing Moment Has Arrived

For decades, the global PCB supply chain has been overwhelmingly concentrated in East Asia — China alone accounts for roughly 54% of worldwide production, with Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan collectively adding another 30%. That concentration has long been a concern for procurement teams and OEMs seeking supply chain resilience, and now India is making its most credible bid yet to become a meaningful player in the PCB manufacturing landscape.

India’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, originally launched in 2021 and significantly expanded in 2024 and 2025, has committed over ₹25,000 crore (approximately $3 billion) specifically toward electronics component manufacturing, with PCBs and IC substrates identified as priority segments. The results are becoming visible: at least eight new PCB fabrication facilities have been announced or are under construction across the country, and the first wave of PLI-backed production lines is expected to come online in late 2026 and early 2027.

What the PLI Scheme Actually Offers PCB Manufacturers

The mechanics of India’s PLI scheme are straightforward but consequential. Qualifying manufacturers receive incentives of 4-6% on incremental sales above a defined base year, paid over a five-year period. For PCB-specific investments, the government has layered additional benefits:

• Capital subsidy: Up to 25% of capital expenditure for greenfield PCB fabrication facilities
• Infrastructure support: State-level subsidies for land, power, and water in designated electronics manufacturing clusters
• Duty relief: Reduced import duties on key PCB manufacturing equipment including laminators, drilling machines, and plating lines
• Tax incentives: Reduced corporate tax rates (15%) for new manufacturing entities established before March 2027

The combined effect makes India’s total incentive package for PCB manufacturing roughly comparable to what Vietnam and Thailand have offered, while benefiting from India’s massive domestic electronics market — which crossed $150 billion in 2025.

New Fabs on the Horizon

The most notable developments include:

Ascent Circuits (Tamil Nadu): A joint venture between an Indian conglomerate and a Taiwanese PCB technology partner, Ascent has broken ground on a facility near Chennai targeting 4-12 layer multilayer PCB production. Initial capacity is planned at 30,000 square meters per month, with Phase 2 adding HDI capability. Estimated total investment: $420 million.

Kaynes Technology (Karnataka): Already one of India’s largest EMS companies, Kaynes is building a dedicated PCB fab near Mysuru that will focus on 6-16 layer boards for automotive and industrial applications. The company has cited PLI incentives as the primary factor making the investment viable at Indian labor and infrastructure costs.

Vitronics (Gujarat): Backed by a consortium of Indian and Middle Eastern investors, Vitronics is targeting flex and rigid-flex PCB production for consumer electronics and wearables. Their facility in the Dholera Special Investment Region is expected to begin pilot production by Q4 2026.

TATA Electronics (Uttar Pradesh): As part of its broader semiconductor and electronics strategy, TATA’s facility near Noida will include a PCB and substrate production line, primarily serving internal demand from TATA Group’s electronics assembly operations.

Several additional projects remain in earlier stages of planning, including at least two facilities targeting RF and microwave PCB production for India’s growing defense electronics sector.

The China+1 Context

India’s PCB manufacturing push doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s part of the broader China+1 supply chain diversification trend that has accelerated since 2023. Multiple factors are driving OEMs and their EMS partners to establish alternative PCB sourcing:

• Tariff exposure: US Section 301 tariffs on Chinese PCBs remain at 25%, with periodic discussions of further increases
• Geopolitical risk: Ongoing US-China tensions around Taiwan create supply chain uncertainty for PCBs produced in both China and Taiwan
• Customer mandates: Major OEMs including Apple, Samsung, and several automotive companies now require multi-country sourcing for critical components
• EU supply chain due diligence: New European regulations require companies to demonstrate supply chain diversification and risk mitigation

India joins Vietnam and Thailand as the primary beneficiaries of this diversification trend. However, India brings a unique advantage: its domestic electronics market is large enough to sustain PCB manufacturing even without significant export volumes in the early years. India’s smartphone assembly industry alone consumed an estimated $2.8 billion worth of PCBs in 2025 — nearly all imported from China.

What This Means for PCB Buyers and Designers

For engineers and procurement teams evaluating supply chain options, India’s emergence as a PCB manufacturing base creates both opportunities and practical considerations:

Near-Term Opportunities (2026-2028)

• Standard multilayer boards: Indian fabs will be most competitive for 4-10 layer FR-4 boards at medium-to-high volumes, particularly for products destined for Indian or Middle Eastern end markets
• Cost competitiveness: Labor costs in India’s electronics clusters are 30-50% lower than coastal China, though this advantage is partially offset by higher logistics costs and lower initial yields
• Tariff arbitrage: For products sold in the US market, India-manufactured PCBs avoid the 25% Section 301 tariff, creating a meaningful cost advantage over Chinese alternatives

Design Considerations

PCB designers working with Indian suppliers should be aware of current capability limits. First-generation Indian PCB manufacturing facilities are generally targeting:

• Layer counts up to 12-16 layers (with 20+ layer capability coming later)
• Minimum trace/space of 75-100μm (versus <50μm available from advanced Chinese and Taiwanese fabs)
• Standard surface finishes including HASL, ENIG, and OSP
• FR-4 and CEM-3 laminates (high-frequency and exotic materials will follow)

For HDI PCB designs requiring laser-drilled microvias, stacked vias, or any-layer interconnects, East Asian manufacturers will remain the primary source for the foreseeable future. Indian facilities have HDI on their roadmaps but are realistically 2-3 years away from production-grade capability.

Supply Chain Strategy

The practical approach for most buyers is to begin qualifying Indian sources for standard multilayer products while maintaining established relationships with Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers for advanced technology boards. This dual-sourcing strategy aligns with how the industry has approached Southeast Asian PCB manufacturing growth — incremental shifts rather than wholesale migration.

Challenges Ahead

India’s PCB manufacturing ambitions face real obstacles that temper the optimism:

Ecosystem gaps: PCB manufacturing requires a robust supply chain of laminates, chemicals, drilling consumables, and surface treatment materials. India currently imports 85-90% of these inputs, which adds lead time and cost. Building a domestic supply ecosystem will take years.

Skilled labor: While India has no shortage of engineers, PCB fabrication requires specialized process technicians — particularly for copper plating, imaging, and quality control. Training programs are being established but will need 2-3 years to produce experienced operators.

Water and power infrastructure: PCB fabrication is water-intensive and requires extremely stable power. Several announced sites have flagged infrastructure reliability as a key risk factor.

Environmental compliance: India’s Central Pollution Control Board has tightened environmental regulations for electronics manufacturing, and PCB fabs must invest in wastewater treatment and chemical handling systems that add 10-15% to capital costs.

Quality and yield: New fabrication facilities universally experience yield ramp challenges. Industry veterans estimate 12-18 months from first article to stable high-yield production for multilayer boards — longer for more complex constructions.

The Long View

India’s PLI-driven PCB manufacturing expansion is real, funded, and progressing. It will not threaten China’s dominance in the near term — the scale differential is simply too vast. But it does represent a meaningful diversification option for buyers who need geographic risk mitigation and are willing to invest in supplier development.

The most likely trajectory is that Indian PCB production reaches 3-4% of global output by 2029, focused primarily on standard multilayer and flex products for the domestic and South Asian markets. Over a longer horizon, as the ecosystem matures and advanced manufacturing capabilities develop, India could follow the path that China itself took in the 2000s — starting with commodity products and progressively moving up the technology ladder.

For PCB buyers and designers, the actionable takeaway is to start building relationships with Indian manufacturers now, qualifying them for appropriate product categories while maintaining established supply chains for high-technology boards. The companies that invest in understanding India’s capabilities and limitations today will be best positioned to benefit as the ecosystem matures.

Looking for a PCB manufacturer that stays ahead of industry trends? Request a quote from Atlas PCB today.