To boost the investment in food processing sector, doubling farmers' income and creating huge employment opportunities in the state, the union government has launched Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana.A spokesperson said that Yojana is a complete package which will result in the creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to a retail outlet.He told that the following components including Mega Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, Creation or Expansion of Food Processing and Preservation Capacities, Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure and Human Resources and Institutions are part of the scheme.He said that for mega Food Park, the minimum land is required for a central processing centre in park is 50 acre and implementation period is 30 months. A cluster of 30-35 units can be developed in one Mega Food Park with an investment of about Rs. 250 crore and it can benefit about 6000 farmers or producers directly and 25000-30000 farmers indirectly, the spokesperson disclosed.He told that the financial assistance under this component is provided around 50 percent of the eligible project cost in general areas.
Further, the objective of Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure is to provide integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure facilities, from the farm gate to the consumer and financial assistance of Rs 10 crore per project in relation to technical civil works and eligible plant and machinery is also being offered.He said that another component of Agro Processing Cluster aims at the development of modern infrastructure and common facilities to encourage a group of entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on cluster approach by linking groups of producers and farmers to the processors and markets through the well-equipped supply chain with modern infrastructure. A grant of total 35 percent is being offered in general areas.The information about guidelines of the scheme can be procured from the website of Ministry of Food Processing Industries' website www.mofpi.nic.in.