How the One District One Product (ODOP) Approach Boosts Atmanirbhar Bharat

A radical step forward towards realizing the true potential of a district, fuelling economic growth and generating employment and rural entrepreneurship, all leading to an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

March 23, 2021

One District One Product (ODOP) is an initiative which is seen as a transformational step forward towards realising the true potential of a district.

It fuels economic growth and generate employment and rural entrepreneurship, taking us to the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

For the PM Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme ODOP will provide the framework for value chain development and alignment of support infrastructure.

The scheme is aimed at building capacity of two lakh micro enterprises through increased access to credit, integration with an organised supply chain.

Recently, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries launched an all India centrally sponsored PM Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme to further drive forward the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The Scheme aims to provide financial, technical and business support for upgradation of existing micro food processing enterprises. The scheme adopts the One District One Product (ODOP)  approach that enables it to reap the benefit of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing of products.

One District One Product (ODOP) is an initiative which is seen as a transformational step forward towards realizing the true potential of a district, fuel economic growth and generate employment and rural entrepreneurship, taking us to the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. One District One Product (ODOP) initiative is operationally merged with ‘Districts as Export Hub’ initiative being implemented by DGFT, Department of Commerce, with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as a major stakeholder.     

The Department of Commerce through DGFT is engaging with State and Central government agencies to promote the initiative of One District One Product. The objective is to convert each District of the country into an Export Hub by identifying products with export potential in the District, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products, supporting local exporters/manufacturers to scale up manufacturing, and find potential buyers outside India with the aim of promoting exports, promoting manufacturing & services industry in the District and generate employment in the District.

In an effort to increase exports and take export promotion to the District level, Department of Commerce through the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is engaging with State / UT Governments to implement the said initiative in all districts of the country in a phased manner, with the objective of mobilizing the potential of each district of the country to achieve its potential as an export hub. 

For instance, in the case of Rajasthan,  products such as Blue Pottery (Jaipur) and Markhana Marbles (Nagaur) are part of the identified 106 Products. All the Districts of Rajasthan are already covered under the ‘Districts as Export Hub’ initiative. State Export Promotion Committee (SPEC) and District Export Promotion Committee (DEPC) have been constituted in Rajasthan.  In Uttar Pradesh, the Government’s ODOP program aims to encourage indigenous and specialized products and crafts in UP such as the ancient and nutritious ‘Kala Namak’ rice, wheat-stalk craft, world-famous chikankari and zari-zardozi work on clothes, and the intricate and stunning horn-bone work that uses the remains of dead animals rather than live ones, a nature-friendly replacement for ivory.

The Ministry has approved ODOP for 707 districts of 35 States/ UTs with 137 unique products. FPOs, SHGs, Cooperatives, any Government agency or private enterprises will receive support for Common Infrastructure for clusters.

Similarly, the DEPC is constituted in all Districts of India, except districts of the state of West Bengal. DEPC meetings have been conducted in 510 Districts of India, Draft Export Action Plans are prepared for 451 Districts.

For the PMFME scheme, ODOP will provide the framework for value chain development and alignment of support infrastructure. There may be more than one cluster of ODOP products in a district. A cluster of ODOP products may also consist of more than one adjacent district. The Ministry has approved ODOP for 707 districts of 35 States/ UTs with 137 unique products. FPOs, SHGs, Cooperatives, any Government agency or private enterprises will receive support for Common Infrastructure for clusters. 

The scheme is aimed at building capacity of two lakh micro enterprises through increased access to credit, integration with an organized supply chain. This will be achieved by strengthening branding and marketing, increased access to common services, strengthening of institutions, research & training in the food processing sector. 

Under the scheme, Individual Micro Enterprises will receive support in the form of credit-linked capital subsidy at 35% of the eligible project cost, with a maximum ceiling of approximately $13666 per unit. Also, clusters and groups such as FPOs, SHGs, Producer Cooperatives etc. will receive credit linked grants at 35%. This will be available along their entire value chain for sorting, grading, storage, common processing, packaging, marketing, testing, etc. There will be seed capital at approximately $550 per member of SHGs engaged in food processing for working capital and purchase of small tools. There will also be a credit linked grant at 35% to support FPOs, SHGs, Cooperatives, any Government agency or private enterprises for Common infrastructure. The common infrastructure will also be available for other units and the public to utilise on a hiring basis for substantial part of the capacity.

Similarly, there will be a grant up to 50% for branding and marketing available to groups of FPOs/ SHGs/ Cooperatives or an SPV of micro food processing enterprises. The scheme also envisages training for Entrepreneurship Development Skilling (EDP+) programs modified to meet the requirement of the food processing industry and product specific skilling.

In the future too, the ODOP program will see greater success as it helps foster the Atmanirbhar Bharat sentiment. 

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