New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for food processing industry with a outlay of Rs 10,900 crore, to strengthen select Indian brands of food products in the international markets.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal while addressing a conference after Cabinet meeting said, “The Union Cabinet today approved Rs 10,900 crores as incentive or subsidy under PLI scheme for the food processing industry.”
This scheme will be implemented over a six year period from 2021-22 to 2026-27.
According to a Cabinet statement, the scheme will support the creation of global food manufacturing champions commensurate with India’s natural resource endowment, and strengthen select Indian brands of food products for global visibility and wider acceptance in the international markets.
“The objectives of the scheme are to support food manufacturing entities with stipulated minimum sales and willing to make minimum stipulated investment for expansion of processing capacity and Branding abroad to incentivise emergence of strong Indian brands,” it added.
It also aims to increase employment opportunities of off-farm jobs and ensuring remunerative prices of farm produce, and higher income to farmers.
The PLI scheme’s first component relates to incentivising manufacturing of four major food product segments viz. ready to cook/ ready to eat (RTC/ RTE) foods, processed fruits & vegetables, marine products and mozzarella cheese. Besides, innovative or organic products of SMEs including free range -eggs, poultry meat, egg products in these segments are also covered, the statement said.
The selected applicant will have to undertake investment, as quoted in their application in plant & machinery in the first two years i.e. in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the Cabinet said, adding that, “The conditions of stipulated minimum sales and mandated investment will not be applicable for entities selected for making innovative/ organic products.”
The scheme’s second component relates to envisages grant to the applicant entities for – in store branding, shelf space renting and marketing for promotion of Indian brand abroad.
Further, the implementation of the scheme is expected to facilitate expansion of processing capacity to generate processed food output of Rs 33,494 crore and create employment for nearly 2.5 lakh persons by the year 2026-27, the Cabinet noted.
Apart from that, a National Level Portal would be set-up wherein the applicant enterprise could apply to participate in the scheme and all the scheme related activities would be undertaken on the portal.
The approve selection of applicants for coverage under the scheme, sanction and release of funds as incentives would be done by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the statement added.
-RJV
