Centre to support food processing industry with slew of schemes: Official

The Centre has drawn up a slew of schemes, in the form of subsidies, to support the food processing industry, from micro to large units, a senior official said.

Secretary of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Subrata Gupta, said that a lot of food, particularly fruits and vegetables, go to waste for not being processed to increase their shelf life.

"On an average, processing of food in various sectors is only around 10 per cent. This is a matter of concern. There is a need to process and preserve food to curb wastage," Gupta said at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here on Monday night.

The ministry is supporting the sector with a slew of schemes for micro, medium and large units, he said.

"There is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs to invest in the food processing sector," Gupta added.

The central government has also set aside an amount of Rs 400 crore for the small and medium food processing units, he said.

The official said large units need to be supported for establishing the presence in overseas markets.

Joint secretary with the ministry, D Praveen, said the government has devised tailor-made schemes for micro entrepreneurs.

He said seed capital is provided to self-help groups (SHGs) for setting up micro units.

"In West Bengal, 50 projects in the small and medium sector will be given support in the form of subsidy by the Centre," he said.

The ministry will also organise the World Food India exhibition in Delhi in September to showcase the food processing sector of the country, he added.