(a) whether the Government is considering to incentivise
organic food products by giving benefits to food processing
industries, using organic food materials;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government is considering measures to
integrate food processing industries with the benefits
available to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs);
and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES(SHRI SUBODH KANT SAHAI)
(a) & (b): Under the 11th Plan Schemes, there is no specific incentive
for Food Processing Industries using organic food materials.
However, the Government operates a scheme namely, Scheme of
Technology upgradation/Establishment/Modernization of Food
Processing Industries under which financial assistance in the form
of grant-in-aid is provided to all the Food Processing Sectors
including Organic food products @ 25% of the cost of Plant and
Machinery and Technical Civil Works subject to a maximum of Rs.
50.00 lakhs in general areas or 33.33% subject to a maximum of Rs.
75.00 lakhs in difficult areas.
(c) & (d): During the operation of 8th to 10th Plan periods under the
Scheme of Infrastructure Development, Government had approved
setting up of 56 Food Parks in various locations of the country
with a view to make available common infrastructure facilities for
food processing industries, especially Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSMEs) pertaining to all sectors including Organic
Food Products. The scheme provided for a grant up to 25% of the
project cost subject to a maximum of Rs. 4.00 Cr. in general
areas. Higher scale of assistance @ 33.3% was admissible for
difficult areas of North-Eastern States, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and
Uttrakhand subject to a maximum of Rs.4.00 crore for each project.
Under 11th Plan Schemes, the Government has approved a new scheme
namely Infrastructure Development Scheme for Mega Food Parks which
aims at creating state of art infrastructure facilities for the
food processing industries from farm gate to retailer’s outlet
with an efficient supply chain management having strong backward
and forward linkages. The Scheme provides for Plug and Play
facility which consists of standard factory sheds for Micro and
Small Enterprises (MSEs), built on a maximum of 10 per cent of the
area of Central Processing Units (CPC), of the Mega Food Park
projects. In the 1st phase of implementation, 10 Mega Food Park
projects have been approved in the States of Andhra Pradesh,
Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu,
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal.