Centre clears 20 food processing projects worth Rs 363.4 cr

The Union Food Processing Industries Ministry on Wednesday said it has cleared 20 projects worth Rs 363.4 crore under two central government schemes.

The government will provide a grant-in-aid of Rs 102.91 crore for these projects, which together are expected to generate nearly 12,000 jobs and benefit 42,800 farmers, it said in a statement.

A decision in this regard was taken in the Inter-Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC) meeting chaired by the Food Processing Industries Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Junior Minister Rameshwar Teli and promoters of the projects were also present in the virtual meeting held on February 16.

According to the ministry, the proposed projects have been cleared under the Scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Cluster (APC) and the scheme for Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing and Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC) under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) approved in May 2017.

Under the CEFPPC, the ministry said 11 proposals with a project cost of Rs 113.08 crore including grants-in-aid of Rs 36.30 crore have been cleared. These projects will leverage private investment of Rs 76.78 crore and are likely to generate employment for 3,700 persons and benefit 6,800 farmers.

These projects will come up in Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Mizoram, and Gujarat.

Whereas under the creation of infrastructure for APC, nine proposals with a total project cost of Rs 250.32 crore including grants-in-aid of Rs 66.61 crore have been cleared in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Rajasthan.

These projects will leverage private investment of Rs 183.71 crore and are expected to generate employment for 8,260 persons and benefit 36,000 farmers.

The ministry said these proposed 20 projects are expected to increase the processing level and value addition of horticultural and agricultural products and will lead to an increase in farmers' income and job creation at the local level.