Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, Narendra Singh Tomar has announced that the MoFPI is toiling with the Commerce Ministry on branding of Indian food products. He notified that the Commerce Ministry has scrutinized many ready-to-eat food products as well as fruits and vegetables for export markets.
Emphasizing that food processing is one of the largest sectors contributing about 32% to the total food market, he stated- “Government is stepping towards the branding of food products and establishment of a Market Development Board.”
Tomar made these proclamations while attending the 14th edition of the seminar Agro and Food Tech held virtually and hosted by the industry body CII..
The minister also said that India’s agriculture and rural economy is very strong. He declared that remarkable steps have been taken by the government for appropriate marketing and technological intervention which includes the recently passed three farm Bills by the government.
Talking about the initiatives of MoFPI, he informed that under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, MoFPI has begun PMFME (PM Formalisation of Micro food Enterprises) scheme with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore.
“MFP scheme is an important part of PMKSY whose goal is to associate agricultural production to the market by amalgamating the farmers, processors and retailers together. Presently, 37 MFPs have received authorization out of which 20 have started functioning,” he added.
Addressing the summit, Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, has invited the industries to finance in the state’s food processing sector. He stated that Uttar Pradesh was one of the major growers of horticultural crops and food grains in India, which functioned as a robust base for the food processing industry.
He notified that the state has framed new policy for the farmer producers’ organizations and the state government is desirously advocating the scheme of ‘One District One Product’, wherein agricultural produce from various districts is being marketed.
He further declared that Government of Uttar Pradesh has started a number of policy initiatives to foster funding in the agri and food processing sector and the state is setting new specifications and standards in moulding a mark in the food processing sector.
Other attendees of the event were Ajay S Shriram, chairman of CII Agro & Food Tech 2020, Chandrajit Banerjee, DG of CII, and Uday Kotak, president of CII.