UP govt to set up 75,000 new food processing units across the state

In a major push to link its vast farm economy directly with domestic and global markets, the Uttar Pradesh government is looking to establish 75,000 new food processing units across the state.

 

The expansion is aimed at promoting modern processing of fruits, vegetables, and high-value cash crops so that farmers can tap into lucrative global markets and export-oriented industries. UP currently hosts about 65,000 food processing units spread across its 75 districts.

 

With global demand for Indian processed food rising — particularly from the US, Bangladesh, the UAE, and Vietnam — the state government is looking to position UP as a major sourcing hub. To achieve this, it plans to add 1,000 new processing units in each district, effectively doubling the state’s food processing capacity to nearly 140,000 units, a senior official said. 

This scale-up comes at a time when UP’s agricultural economy has expanded rapidly. The state’s agricultural Gross State Value Added (GSVA) has grown three-fold in the past eight years, rising from ₹2 trillion in 2016–17 to about ₹7 trillion in 2024–25.

 

Building on this momentum, the Yogi Adityanath government has set an ambitious target- by 2047, agriculture and allied activities should contribute $1 trillion to UP’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Officials acknowledge that achieving this milestone will require strong alignment between agriculture, food processing, and farm exports.

 

To support this vision, UP is developing new food processing and cold storage facilities in Agra and Farrukhabad, and integrating contract farming into the broader ecosystem. The state has already established 15 agro and food processing parks across key districts such as Bareilly, Barabanki, Varanasi, and Gorakhpur.

 

Additionally, a South Asia Regional Centre of the International Potato Centre (CIP) is coming up in Agra, which will advance research on potatoes and other tuber crops—an area of strategic importance for UP.

 

The UP Food Processing Industry Policy 2023 is also playing a pivotal role by offering production-based subsidies, interest subvention, and exemptions on land use, stamp duty, and development fees for projects ranging from ₹1 crore to ₹50 crore.

 

So far, the state has cleared more than 400 proposals worth over ₹10,000 crore in the food processing sector, with 60 projects already completed.

 

UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who also oversees the food processing portfolio, has been urging private players to tap into the vast untapped potential within the state’s agricultural value chain. “The reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates has stoked domestic demand. This will augment farm income and create new employment opportunities in rural areas,” he recently said.