The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been working towards the small and micro-industry and decided to launch a new scheme which will focus on offering loans to small and cottage food processors in the unorganized sector to enable them to upgrade their technology and skills, and to get integrated with the organized sector.
During an interaction at Business Line Agri Summit on Friday, Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsmirat Kaur Badal stated that India has the potential to become the food factory for the world in the coming years, and enhancing capacities of food preservation and processing can go a long way in increasing the income of the country’s farmers. She said that the Ministry of Food Processing has taken several measures over the past six years to realize the vision of PM Narendra Modi to double farmers’ income by 2022.
“While the food processing industry is one of the largest generators of employment, nearly 80 percent of the processing industry is still unorganized. We are working towards a new scheme targeted at these micro and cottage food processors and rural women who are processing products like pappad, chutney, and achaar, among others, through small operations out of their homes. We plan to offer them loans so that they can upgrade their technology, enhance their skills and improve the food safety standards of their products and get integrated with the organized sector”, Badal said while talking about the new scheme.
Regarding food processing industry, Badal said, “India is the largest producer of food in the world. But our processing is at a nascent stage, as we process only 10 percent of what we produce. Hence, there is a very high level of wastage, which leads to consumer prices shooting up on one hand and farmers not getting their due on the other. Therefore, the Ministry has been working tirelessly for the last six years for creating the infrastructure for food processing and preservation, so farmers can realize the full value of their crops”.
The Ministry is also focusing on creating the necessary infrastructure, offering guidance and subsidies to support farmers in this direction as well as to connect them with relevant markets, the Union Minister added.
As per reports, under the flagship scheme, PM Kisan Sampada Yojana, nearly ₹6,000 crores has been sanctioned to create the infrastructure to improve agricultural productivity and nearly 800 units of infrastructure are in the process of being set up over the next two-three years to ensure adequate capacity is created for food processing and preservation.
