The Ministry of
food Processing Industriesis implementing a number of Central Sector Schemes
for promotion and development of Food Processing sector in the country since 12th
Plan.
The
major achievements of the Ministry during 2016 are as under:-
Government
has allowed 100% FDI for trading including through e-commerce, in respect of
Food Products manufactured or produced in India. 100% FDI is already permitted
in manufacturing of food products through automatic route. This will provide
impetus to the foreign investment in food processing sector, benefit farmers
immensely and will create vast employment opportunities.
The following additional fiscal
concessions have been granted for boosting the investment in the food
processing sector :
(a)
Reduction
in Excise Duty on Refrigerated Containers from 12.5% to 6%.
(b)
Reduction
in Basic Custom Duty on Refrigerated Containers from 10% to 5%.
(c)
5%
Basic Customs Duty as presently available under project imports for cold
storage, cold room also extended for Cold Chain including pre-cooling unit,
pack house, sorting and grading lines and ripening chambers.
Under the Scheme
of Mega Food Parks:
(a)
The
Indus Mega Food Park, Khargone (Madhya Pradesh); Jharkhand Mega Food
Park Ranchi (Jharkhand), and Jangipur Bengal Mega Food Park, Murshidabad(West
Bengal) were made operational and inaugurated.
(b)
Foundation
Stone of Punjab Agro Industries Corporation (PAIC) Mega Food Park Project in
Ludhiana was laid.
(c)
As
such, 8 Mega Food Parks have been made operational so far.
(d)
A
Mega Food Park is likely to benefit about 25000-30000 farmers apart from
creating employment for 5000-6000 persons, especially in rural areas.
(e)
The
Mega Food Park projects at Satara (Maharashtra), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Rayagada
(Odisha) and Agartala (Tripura) are at advanced stage for operationalisation by
the end of current Financial Year.
(f)
NABARD
has sanctioned term loan of Rs. 427.69 Crore to 10 Mega Food Park projects and
2 processing units under ‘Food Processing Fund’ of Rs. 2000 Crore and out of
this an amount of Rs. 81.10 Crore has been disbursed.The Ministry has notified
157 designated food parks in different States for the purpose of availing
affordable credit from special fund with NABARD.
Under
the Scheme of Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure:
(a)
20
projects have been operationalised in 2016. With their operationalisation,
Ministry has created an additional capacity of 0.63 lakh metric tonnes of cold
storage, 15 metric tonnes per hour of individual Quick Freezing (IQF), 10.65
lakh litres per day of Milk of processing/ storage and 99 reefer vans during
2016.
(b)
During
last two and half years, 54 Integrated Cold Chain projects have been made
operational taking the total number of Cold Chain projects to 91. The Ministry
has so far assisted 135 Cold Chain projects having a capacity of 3.67 lakh
metric tones of cold storage, 94.29 metric tones per hour of individual Quick
Freezing (IQF) 37.93 lakh litres per day of Milk processing/ storage and 549
reefer vans.
(c)
The
guidelines of Scheme have been revised on the basis of feedback and experience
of this Ministry to make them investor friendly.
(d)
On
an average, each cold chain project benefits to around 500 farmers in
fruits and vegetables sector and around 5000 farmers in dairy sector and
creates employment for 100 persons.
Ministry
has invited EOIs to fill up vacant slots of Mega Food parks and Cold Chain
projects. The Ministry has received 54 proposals against 8 vacant slots of
Mega Food Parks and 308 proposals for 100 Cold Chain projects which stand
testimony to the increasing interest of the investors in this sector.
Under
the Scheme of Setting up/ Modernization of Abattoirs, one project at Panji(Goa)
has been operationalised.
During
the year, 10 Food Testing Labs have been completed.
FSSAI has simplified product
approval:
(a)
approved
a large number of new Additives harmonized with the International Codex
Standards.
(b)
notified
an amendment to the regulations as a result of which non-standardized food
products called proprietary foods (except novel food and nutra-ceuticals) that
use ingredients and additives approved in the regulations will no longer
require product approval. This has provided considerable relief to the
industry.
A
web-based on-line system has been operationalised for processing claims for
release of grants-in-aid under the Schemes of Mega Food Parks and the Integrated Cold Chain and Value
Addition Infrastructure.
The National
Institute of Food technology, entrepreneurship and management (NIFTEM) at Kundli,
Sonepat, Haryana and Indian Institute of Crop
Processing Technology (IICPT) at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu are being developed by
the Government as the Centres of Excellence. The pass-outs of these
institutes have got 100% placements.
The Ministry is
also taking steps to implement a new scheme namely Scheme for Agro-Marine
produce Processing and Development of Agro-clusters (SAMPADA) for overall
development of food processing sector, for providing enabling infrastructure,
expanding processing and preservation capacities, controlled temperature
logistics and backward and forward linkages, with an allocation of Rs.6000
Crore for a period co-terminus with 14th finance Commission.
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MJPS
