New Delhi, Jun 25 (KNN) Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Food Processing Industries, Narendra Modi Rs 11000 crore to be spent on Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) focusing on the Food industry.

While addressing the 3rd edition of the Northern Zone Food Processing Summit organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) through video conference, he said, ''The government 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 further said 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 Narendra Modi, as a part of the self-reliant India campaign. About Rs 11 thousand crores will be spent on the scheme", the Minister added.

Tomar also 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,'' he added.

The Minister also 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, Manoj Joshi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, 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.