New Delhi, Feb 18 (KNN) Aiming to increase the farmers’ income and create employment at the local level, the ministry of food processing industries has approved the proposal of 20 food processing projects worth Rs. 363.4 crore.

Union Minister of Food Processing industries Narendra Singh Tomar chaired two Inter-Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC) meetings through video conference on Tuesday to consider the proposals received under the Scheme for Creation for Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Cluster (APC) and the scheme for Creation / Expansion of Food Processing and Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC) under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY).

Minister of State, Rameshwar Teli was also present in the meeting. The promoters of the projects also participated in the meeting through Video Conference.

The proposals for projects approved in the IMAC meetings are expected to increase the level of processing and value addition of horticultural/agricultural produce, which will result in increase in the income of the farmers and create employment at the local level.

Under the CEFPPC, the ministry said 11 proposals with the total project cost of Rs. 113.08 Cr including grants-in-aid of Rs. 36.30 crore have been cleared in the state of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Mizoram & Gujarat.

These projects will leverage private investment of Rs. 76.78 Cr and are expected to generate employment to 3700 persons & benefit 6800 farmers.

The Scheme was approved on 05.05.2017 under PMKSY to promote processing / preservation of agro-food products and modernization/ capacity enhancement of food processing. This will help in increasing the level of processing and value addition thereby reducing the wastage of agro-produce.

Under Creation of Infrastructure for APC, 9 proposals with the total project cost of Rs. 250.32 Cr. including grants-in-aid of Rs. 66.61 crore have been cleared in the state Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Rajasthan.

These projects will leverage private investment of Rs. 183.71 Cr and are expected to generate employment to 8260 persons & benefit 36000 farmers.

The scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for APC was approved on 03.05.2017 under PMKSY for encouraging entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on the cluster approach.