The food processing industry is one of the 25 sectors identified to advance the ‘Make in India’ campaign. This was announced in a recently concluded workshop on ‘Sectoral Perspectives and Initiatives’ which included participation by ministers and industries and state chief secretaries.
The ‘Make in India’ campaign will focus on the manufacturing sector to generate employment. Through this campaign the food processing sector will aim to raise their growth level from 10% to 25% as this is one of the focus industries of the ‘Make in India’ Campaign.
Through this campaign the food processing industry is set to develop 42 Mega Food Parks. Entrepreneurs will be able to rent out developed plots along with basic infrastructure in these Mega Food Parks, for establishing a food processing unit or an ancillary unit. An investment of Rs. 98 billion is being raised for this purpose through public and private partnerships. Essar Infraprojects is all set to place Rs.50, 000crores in the food industry whereas Adani is looking to invest about Rs.20, 000crores and the future group has vowed to invest Rs.2, 000crores in this very important sector.
Other companies and multinationals like ITC, Keventer Agro Ltd, Reliance and Future Group have also shown a keen interest to make their investments in the food processing industry. In the North East a Mega food park is likely to come up in Tihu will work to fulfill the demand for organic food production as that has a huge market in India and abroad.
The meeting also highlighted the fact that first time investors in the food parks will be given full support from teams that have been set up for this purpose. NABARD will be lending capital at lower interest rates and the capital fund set up by NABARD for the food processing industry borrowing is Rs.2, 000crores. Incentives that will make the food processing industry a viable option have also been introduced to give the sector a boost. Some of the incentives include
- capital subsidies
- tax rebates
- depreciation benefits
- reduced custom and excise duties for processed food and machinery.
altamash says
Sir,
I have a very low investment around 2lakh is it possible to setup a food processing plant for me in your mega food park project or else advice me a where should I start a food manufacturing plant