The News Freedom
New Delhi, November 3
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India’s food processing sector has recognised as the ‘sunrise sector’and attracted foreign direct investment of more than Rs 50,000 crores as a result of the government’s pro-industry and pro-farmer policies. Throwing light on the PLI scheme in the food processing sector, the Prime Minister said that it is providing huge assistance to the new players in the industry. He mentioned that work is underway on thousands of projects under the Agri-Infra Fund for post-harvest infrastructure with an approximate investment of more than Rs 50,000 crores while processing infrastructure in the fisheries and animal husbandry sector is also being encouraged with an investment of thousands of crores.
“The investor-friendly policies by the government are taking the food sector to new heights”, Modi remarked after inaugurating the second edition of the Mega food event ‘World Food India 2023’ at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
.In the last 9 years, the Prime Minister informed that the share of processed foods in India’s agricultural exports has grown from 13 percent to 23 percent, making an overall increase of 150 percent of exported processed foods. “Today, India stands at the 7th position with an overall export value of more than 50,000 million USD in agricultural produce”, he informed. He underlined that there is no sector in the food processing industry where India has not shown unprecedented growth and said that it is a golden opportunity for every company and start-up associated with the food processing industry.
Prime Minister Modi credited the consistent and dedicated efforts by the government behind the speedy and rapid growth in India’s food processing industry. He mentioned the creation of Agri-Export Policy for the first time in India, the development of nationwide logistics and infrastructure, the creation of more than 100 district-level hubs connecting the district to the global markets, increase in the number of Mega Food Parks from 2 to more than 20, and India’s food processing capacity increasing from 12 lakh metric tonnes to more than 200 lakh metric tonnes, which is a 15 time increase in the last 9 years. The Prime Minister gave examples of agricultural produce that are being exported from India for the first time and mentioned black garlic from Himachal Pradesh, dragon fruit from Jammu and Kashmir, soya milk powder from Madhya Pradesh, Karkitchoo apples from Ladakh, Cavendish banana from Punjab, Gucchi Mushrooms from Jammu, and Raw honey from Karnataka.
Noting the rapid urbanization of India, the Prime Minister drew attention to the increasing demand for packaged food creating unexplored opportunities for farmers, start-ups and small entrepreneurs. Modi emphasized the need for ambitious planning to make full use of these possibilities.
The Prime Minister underlined the three main pillars of India’s growth story in the food processing sector – small farmers, small industries, and women. He highlighted the effective usage of Farmer Produce Organizations or FPOs as a platform to increase the participation and profits of small farmers. “We are making 10 thousand new FPOs in India, out of which 7 thousand have already been made”, he informed. He noted the increased market access and availability of processing facilities for farmers and also informed that about 2 lakh micro enterprises are being organized in the food processing industry to increase the participation of Small Scale Industries. “Schemes like ‘One District One Product’- ODOP are also giving a new identity to small farmers and small industries”, he added.