As many as 42,801 food processing industries have been registered across the country to promote and ensure the overall development of the sector under various government schemes, the Parliament was informed on Thursday.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has been incentivizing infrastructure development through its Central Sector schemes, namely the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI), and the Centrally-sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
The schemes, intended to develop value-added products that lead to higher prices for agricultural and horticultural products and enhance farmers’ incomes, aim to promote the preservation and processing of food products as well as the modernization and capacity enhancement of food processing units. The Ministry extends financial support to prospective entrepreneurs for setting up different kinds of food processing units, the minister said.
Under the PMKSY, credit-linked financial assistance is provided in the form of capital subsidy to entrepreneurs for setting up food processing industries, with a total outlay of Rs 5,520 crore for the 15th Finance Commission cycle.
Under the PMFME scheme, financial, technical, and business support is provided for setting up or upgrading micro food processing enterprises. The scheme is operational until 2025-26, with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore.
The PLISFPI is intended to support the creation of global food manufacturing champions and promote Indian food brands in the international market. The scheme is operational from 2021-22 to 2026-27, with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore.
Grants of up to 50 per cent for branding and marketing support are available to groups of farmers’ production organisations and self-help groups/cooperatives under the related component of the PMFME Scheme.
To promote local industries, the One District One Product (ODOP) approach under the PMFME Scheme has been adopted to reap the benefits of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services, and marketing of products. It provides the framework for value chain development and alignment of support infrastructure. The ODOPs are identified by states and UTs based on agricultural production, raw material availability, and the perishability of the product.
The MoFPI has identified 40 clusters for 10 fruits in 15 states, 97 clusters for 11 vegetables in 25 states, and one cluster in one state for marine produce under the scheme for Operation Greens under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana to ensure better availability of raw materials for food processing industries, the minister added.
(Inputs from IANS)
