Investment in food processing to surpass Rs 65,000 crore: Badal

Already Rs 65,000 crore private investment has been committed in the food processing sector and more is expected during the mega global food event to begin from November 3, the government said today.

Of the total, more than 40 per cent of the investment has been committed by domestic players like ITC, it said, adding that this would create more than 10 lakh jobs in the country.

"Huge investment has been committed in the food processing sector because of transformation measures taken in the last three years and improvement in the ease of doing business," Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal told reporters.

Already Rs 65,000 crore (USD 10 billion) has been committed ahead of the event -- to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- and more investment is expected, she said.

The minister was speaking at the curtain raiser event of the 'World Food India 2017' being organised along with industry body CII.

Highlighting about investor-friendly measures, Badal said an online system is in place for faster processing of application and grant of funds.

A portal 'Nivesh Bandhu' for the benefit of investors has been designed and will be unveiled by Modi at the event. A food regulatory portal will also be launched.

Speaking at the event, Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said, "Over the last couple of years, we have put things together to enable more investment".

Food standards are at par with global benchmark and now approvals are given for recipe-based also. Besides, a new system has been put in place for approval of new kinds of foods, if required, he added.

"So in all, we have created an investor-friendly environment and the regulatory burden has been reduced", Agarwal noted.

The food event will provide global businesses a platform to explore Indian market across the value chain in food processing and food retail.

The event will showcase the strength of India in food processing and allied sectors. It will also connect domestic and international businesses for possible partnerships and facilitate collaboration, investment flow and encourage sourcing from India.

More than 40 countries, 27 states governments are participating in the event. Germany, Denmark and Japan are the partner countries, while the Italy, the Netherlands are the focus countries.