Union Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar addressed the CII Northern Region Food Processing Summit 2021

Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Food Processing Industries, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar addressed the 3rd edition of the Northern Zone Food Processing Summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) through video conference.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Tomar said that the Government of India has taken several initiatives to harness the food and horticulture potential of the country to encourage investment and development in the agriculture sector as well as to provide a better environment to the existing enterprises. He added that the Government is also committed to the development of the food processing sector. “A new production linked incentive scheme for the food processing industry was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, as a part of the self-reliant India campaign. About Rs. 11 thousand crores will be spent on the scheme”, the Minister said.

Shri Tomar said that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has launched the Prime Minister formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan with an aim to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized sector. The scheme focuses on supporting groups engaged in agri-food processing such as Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Groups (SHGs) and producer cooperatives across their value chain.

Shri Tomar said that CII is a premier industry organization, which is helping to lead the country on the path of development. Calling for cooperation to take the benefits of the government initiatives to all the farmers, he said that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is working on these initiatives in a planned manner. He urged CII to conduct a comparative study on the available food grains and horticulture resources in the country with their processing so that the Government of India could devise a strategy to fill the gaps.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Manoj Joshi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India emphasized the need for joint efforts by the government and industry in the area of fortification of processed food and meeting the changing consumer preferences.