The food processing industries ministry is seeking a five-year extension of the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme, which provides 35% credit-linked subsidy, a senior official said on Friday.
“We will be soon submitting a proposal to extend the scheme for five years, which would also include increasing financing for micro enterprises engaged in the processing of food products and raising the credit-linked capital subsidy ceiling,” Devesh Deval, joint secretary, food processing industries ministry, said.
Among the key changes proposed for the extension of PMFME are increasing the credit-linked capital subsidy beyond the existing upper limit of Rs 10 lakh per unit, preferential treatment for women entrepreneurs and enterprises in hilly regions, and a focus on branding and marketing, Deval said.
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The scheme was launched in FY21 with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for five years and has been extended till September 30, 2026. The scheme entails credit-linked subsidy on a project up to Rs 30 lakh each. Deval said that 196,270 micro food processing enterprises have been supported through credit-linked subsidy amounting to Rs 5,800 crore against the project cost of Rs 19,844 crore. More than 40% of beneficiaries are women entrepreneurs, he added.
Demographic Dividends
Bihar leads in the number of beneficiaries availing the scheme, followed by Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh. Processing of cereals, oil and oilseeds, and fruits and vegetables accounts for the bulk of activity.
The official said that the scheme has lead to formalisation of over 65,000 micro food processing units with a growing number of entrepreneurs obtaining the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) registration and adopting improved food safety, quality and packaging standards
Scaling Grassroots Infrastructure
On the building of infrastructure, the ministry also has approved 80 common infrastructure and incubation centres, of which 31 are currently operational. Another 20-25 incubation centres are expected to become functional within two to three months, with the remainder likely by year-end.
The scheme aims to support individual micro-enterprises as well as farmer producer organisations (FPOs), shelf-help groups and cooperatives operating in the unorganised food processing segment.
According to official notes, there are close to 2.5 million food processing enterprises which are unregistered and informal, but have historically faced constraints related to access to credit, modern technology, branding, packaging, quality standards and organised market linkages.
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Under branding and marketing support, 32 proposals and 40 ‘one district, one product’ (ODOP) brands have been approved, leading to the launch of more than 200 food products including millet-based products, geographical indication (GI)-tagged items, pickles, makhana products, spices, dairy and bakery products.
To boost marketing, the ministry has signed MoUs with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to facilitate onboarding and market assistance for PMFME-supported enterprises on the portal.
TOPICSFood & BeveragesThis article was first uploaded on May twenty-three, twenty twenty-six, at thirty-two minutes past one in the night.