1.72 Lakh Micro Food Units Sanctioned Loans Under PMFME: Government

New Delhi, Feb 7 (KNN) The Government has sanctioned loans to 1,72,707 micro food processing enterprises under the credit-linked subsidy component of the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, the Rajya Sabha was informed.

In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh said that out of the total sanctioned units, 3,075 loans have been approved in Odisha, including its rural and tribal districts.

Under the Seed Capital component of PMFME, 3,76,326 Self Help Group (SHG) members have been sanctioned seed capital assistance amounting to Rs 1,282.98 crore. Additionally, 1,36,723 beneficiaries have been trained under the Capacity Building component as on December 31, 2025.

The Minister stated that the Scheme follows the One District One Product (ODOP) approach to leverage scale benefits in input procurement, common services, and product marketing. In Jharkhand, ODOP has been approved for all 24 districts.

Financial assistance under PMFME includes a credit-linked capital subsidy of 35 percent of the eligible project cost, subject to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh per unit for individual or group micro enterprises.

Self help group (SHG) members engaged in food processing are eligible for seed capital support of Rs 40,000 per member, capped at Rs 4 lakh per SHG Federation.

For common infrastructure, a credit-linked capital subsidy of 35 percent of eligible project cost is available up to Rs 3 crore for farmer producer organization (FPOs), SHGs, cooperatives, and government agencies. The infrastructure created is accessible to other units on a hiring basis.

Under the Branding and Marketing component, grants of up to 50 percent are provided to groups of FPOs, SHGs, cooperatives, or Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) of micro food processing enterprises.

To strengthen market access, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal on November 14, 2024, to facilitate marketing of PMFME-supported products. In Jharkhand, three branding and marketing proposals have been approved till December 31, 2025.

The Scheme also includes Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP) and product-specific skilling initiatives tailored to the needs of the food processing industry, the Minister added.

(KNN Bureau)