In 2023, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has undertaken several initiatives to give an impetus to development of food processing sector in the country.

The food processing sector plays an important role in increasing farm income and creating off-farm jobs, reducing post-harvest losses in agriculture and allied sector production through on- and off-farm investments in preservation and processing infrastructure.

According to the data shared by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, this year, the sector witnessed an increase of about 73 per cent in sectoral assistance through the ministry budget.

The government allocated BE of Rs 3,287.65 crore to the ministry in year 2023-24 from revised estimate of Rs 1,901.59 crore in 2022-23.

The share of processed food exports in agri-exports increased substantially from 13.7% in 2014-15 to 25.6% in 2022-23. The Gross Value Added (GVA) increased from Rs 1.34 lakh Crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2.08 lakh crore in 2021-22. The sector has attracted USD 6.185 billion FDI equity inflow during April 2014-March 2023.

Also, it became one of the largest employment provider in the organised manufacturing sector with 12.22% employment in the total registered/organised sector.

Another key achievement of the sector was the Pradhan Mantri Micro Food Processing Industries Upgradation Scheme (PMFME) under which, since Jan 2023, 51,130 loans were sanctioned under the credit linked subsidy component.

The ministry further told that since Jan 2023, a total of 184 projects have been approved under various component schemes of Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) and a total of 110 projects have been completed resulting in processing & preservation capacity of 13.19 Lakh MT.

Government also launched the Production-Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industries (PLISFPI) to support creation of global food manufacturing champions commensurate with India’s natural resource endowment and support Indian brands of food products in the international markets.

A total of 176 proposals under different categories have been approved so far. The scheme was likely to lead to investment of Rs 7722 Crore, increase in processed food sales turnover worth Rs 1.20 Lakh Crore and generate employment opportunities of 2.50 Lakh.

As part of the celebration of International Millet Year 2023, the ministry launched a series of Millet Roadshows/ conferences/exhibitions organised across 27 districts.

The data released by the ministry said so far, a total of 1825 loan have been sanctioned amounting Rs 91.08 Crore for individual millet processing units from various states under PMFME scheme.

In addition, Ministry has identified 19 districts with Millet Products as One District One Product (ODOP) under its PMFME scheme and has approved 3 Marketing & Branding proposals for Millet Products. Also, 17 incubation centres have been approved in 10 states having Millet Processing lines.