New Delhi: Farmers, aspiring entrepreneurs and small traders of Uttar Pradesh have hailed the Yogi Adityanath Government’s initiatives to provide impetus to the food processing industry in the state. The initiatives include providing 35 percent subsidy on loans to encourage smaller businessmen to set up food processing units costing up to Rs 10 lakh.
As a result of this particular initiative, all the proposals seeking to modernise small scale industries in the villages and increase the capacity of food processing have been received by the Horticulture Department and are likely to approved soon. The Government has set a target of promoting 9301 micro food processing enterprises in the current financial year that will employ 20,000 people.
Yogi Government has taken several steps under the Central Government’s Pradhan Mantri Micro Food Industries Upgradation Scheme, which will see setting up of a large number of food processing units in UP’s countryside as well as in small towns in the coming years. The steps are aimed at getting farmers the best price for their produce in their neighbourhood, and at the same time, encouraging entrepreneurship and benefiting smaller businessmen. The scheme is part of the Yogi Government’s ongoing drive to accelerate development of the state through agriculture and agro-based industries.
The UP Government’s efforts have led to greater awareness about the food processing industry among the rural population in UP and is encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs to establish their units.
It is worth mentioning here that Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the country, yet less than 10 per cent of the fruits and vegetables produced in the state was being processed previously due to lack of a visionary leadership. Large quantities of perishable food items were wasted almost every year denying a fair price to the farmers for their crops while the then governments sat pretty over the issue.
Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of this and soon after taking over as chief minister of UP, implemented several key decisions to overcome problems faced by farmers. CM Yogi not only waived off the loans of farmers and ensured provision of fair price to those cultivating sugarcane, paddy and wheat by buying the crops from them, but also prepared and implemented the Food Processing Policy 2017 to encourage investment in the field.
The Food Processing Policy 2017 features several concessions for an entrepreneur setting up a food processing unit. This has resulted in growing interest among people in establishing a food processing unit, which is reflected through the number of applications submitted for the same. Since the year 2018 till now, altogether 803 applications worth Rs 4,109.74 crore have been received by the Government from entrepreneurs for setting up a wide range of factories including 81 for fruit-vegetable processing, 232 for consumer products, 397 for food milling, 03 for herbal processing, 35 for milk processing, 27 for oilseeds processing, 15 for pulses processing, 08 for meat processing and 10 for referrer vans. There is also a proposal for establishing a mega food park and agro processing unit. The Government has already provided land for the proposed units to the entrepreneurs while production has also started in many of them.
Apart from this, impressed by the policies of the State Government big industrialists are also setting up their units in UP. In the last four years, these industrialists have submitted proposals worth Rs 9105.58 crore to the State Government for setting up 139 food processing units of which 101 have started operations also. Established at the cost Rs 4074.02 crore, the 101 companies have provided employment to 20,176 people. Besides, construction of 38 food processing factories is underway at the cost of Rs 5031.31 crore. The companies are expected to start production by the end of this year. A total of 21,111 people will get employment in these factories.
According to officials, SLMG Beverages Pvt Ltd and BL Agro have started production in Lucknow after setting up their plants at the cost of Rs 300 crore and Rs 160 crore respectively whereas Khattar Edibles Pvt Ltd is investing and Rs 150 crore to set up their processing plant in Rampur.
Similarly, Organic India Pvt Ltd’s Barabanki plant, set up at a cost of Rs 55 crore, has also started its production while Patanjali Ayurved Limited is investing Rs 2,118 crore in Gautam Budh Nagar. PepsiCo and Haldiram Snacks Pvt Ltd are investing Rs 514 crore and Rs 490 crore in Mathura and Gautam Budh Nagar respectively.
Supported by the Pradhan Mantri Micro Food Industries Upgradation Scheme, farmers and small traders are establishing food processing plants in villages and towns of UP. The objective behind the scheme is to increase the processing capacity at the village level and to double the income of the farmers. The Government is facilitating farm-to-market linkages to provide capital and promote small and medium industries. The Yogi Government also plans to promote projects run by women and small entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, the Government is ensuring that new be in entrepreneurs get easy loans for setting up food processing units. The State Government is of the opinion that this scheme will also bring new range of food products to the market.
Furthermore, the State Government has set a target of providing employment to scores of people through 37,826 micro food processing units in the next five years.
